The number of political committees aimed at defeating abortion rights amendment is growing

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There is now a fourth political action committee formed to oppose the proposed abortion-rights constitutional amendment on the ballot in Florida this November, and a fifth may be about to launch.

Amendment 4 would restore the right to an abortion up until the point of viability, around 24 weeks’ gestation. Since May 1, it has been illegal to have an abortion in Florida after six weeks of pregnancy.

Keep Florida Pro Life is a political committee created in June, chaired by Beau Heyman, Executive Director of the First Care Women’s Clinic, a pregnancy health organization based in West Palm Beach. It has raised more than $95,000 to date, according to the Florida Division of Elections website. Heyman says the group has now raised about $115,000 that will be reflected the next time the state updates its website.

Heyman told the Phoenix on Monday that he’s been involved in the anti-abortion movement for 18 years and has led the First Care Women’s Clinic for eight years. He says he was extremely surprised when the conservative Florida Supreme Court approved placing Amendment 4 on the ballot in April. And he says that opponents of Amendment 4 have to be considered underdogs in this contest, in part because so many people he encounters simply aren’t aware of even how such an amendment was put on the ballot. 

“They aren’t aware that the Governor can’t veto an amendment,” Heyman said. “They aren’t aware of the 60% threshold (required for the amendment to pass). They’re just not aware of a lot of things, so I’ve realized that when I talk to people about this amendment, you really have to start at a ‘School House Rock’ level.”

Public opinion polls released this Summer show Amendment 4 is getting more than 60% support. A University of North Florida Public Opinion Research Lab survey published last week showed that 69% support Amendment 4, with just 23% opposing and 8% not sure.

Heyman said that friends of his wanted to make a financial donation to an organization committed to opposing the proposal, but didn’t discover any, leading to discussions with his Board of Directors with the First Care Women’s Clinic to create a political committee.

Heyman intends to run “programmatic advertising” to get digital ads in the faces of likely voters and “push messages tailored specifically to help inform them on this issue.”

Keep Florida Pro Life is at least the fourth political committee formed to oppose Amendment 4, joining Florida Voters Against Extremism (a/k/a No on 4), Do No Harm Florida, and Life First PC.

Newcomer

Heyman said that another group called Informed Church is also poised to file as a political committee against the measure. The website InformedChurch.org includes video of advocates discussing why they oppose Amendment 4, such as actress and talk-show host Sam Sorbo. 

“This is actually a defining moment for Christians in Florida,” Sorbo says in the video. “I believe that if we work together, if we put our faith in action and vote no, I believe the Church can single-handedly defeat this amendment.”

The Phoenix reached out to one of the organizers of Informed Church, but did not receive an immediate response.

Floridians Protecting Freedom is the political committee formed more than a year ago to try to get Amendment 4 passed. It has raised more than $39 million to date, dwarfing the combined efforts of the various PACs against the measure.

Among the arguments opponents to Amendment 4 cite is that passage would remove existing laws in Florida regarding abortion, such as parental consent. In an email Monday from Lynda Bell, President of Florida Right to Life and co-founder of Do No Harm Florida, she argued, “The next step may be to force taxpayers to pay for abortions,” noting how abortion rights supporters in Michigan “are suing to force taxpayers to fund abortions.”

That’s an argument recently made by Chris Spencer, Executive Director of the State Board of Administration and Gov. Ron DeSantis’ former budget director during a meeting last month of the state Financial Impact Estimating Conference, whose duties include projecting the costs of petition initiatives if adopted by voters.

Michigan lawsuit

In fact, abortion-rights supporters in Michigan did file a lawsuit in late June seeking to overturn that state’s longtime ban on taxpayer-funded abortions for low-income residents, according to The Associated Press. Under existing law, Florida allows Medicaid to pay for abortions only in instances of life endangerment, rape, and incest. 

“That argument against restoring our fundamental freedoms are protecting ourselves from extremist politicians is both silly and weak,” responded Anna Hockhammer, Executive Director of the Florida Women’s Freedom Coalition. “In America, citizens can access the courts and file lawsuits, but that doesn’t guarantee success or mean that they will prevail.

“Let’s focus on the facts: Florida’s abortion ban is so extreme that it endangers the health and safety of every woman and girl of reproductive age in our state,” Hockhammer continued. “It also removes the ability of women, their families, and their doctors to make informed decisions about their health. Our fundamental freedoms are at risk from an overreaching state government. That is why every voter should vote Yes on 4.”

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Mitch Perry reports. Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: [email protected]. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.