Abortion rights initiative’s support grows to 69%, new UNF poll shows

A new poll says 69% of voters favor the upcoming abortion rights initiative, although one political science warned that support could fall closer to the election.

About 23% are against Amendment 4 while 8% are unsure or didn’t give an answer, according to the survey of 774 likely voters done by the University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab (PORL).

UNF political science professor Michael Binder said Amendment 4 had higher support compared to other initiatives that would legalize marijuana or make School Board races partisan. The abortion rights question had also grown in support compared to November, when only 62% said they would vote in favor of Amendment 4.

“Again, we have yet to see campaigns on either side of this really get moving,” said Binder, who oversees PORL. “Factor in the highly contested and contentious financial impact statement recently added to the ballot summary, and I would expect to see support for this amendment drop before November.”

The Amendment 4 campaign is fighting to have the courts throw out a “financial impact statement” that, as of now, will appear on the ballot.

The campaign asked the Florida Supreme Court to intervene and strike down the statement which says, in part, “The increase in abortions could be even greater if the amendment invalidates laws requiring parental consent before minors undergo abortions and those ensuring only licensed physicians perform abortions.”

The Supreme Court is expediting the court proceedings and asked the state to issue a response by Friday and Floridians Protecting Freedom to reply by Aug. 7.

The PORL poll was conducted July 24 through July 27 and has an overall margin of sampling error of +/- 4.6 percentage points. Of those surveyed, about 41% were Republicans; 35% Democrats and 24% Independents.

To pass Nov. 5, Amendment 4 needs at least 60% of the vote.