Abortion rights advocates vow to keep fighting after Amendment 4 defeat

After months of a heated campaign about the future of abortion rights in Florida post-Roe v. Wade, voters defeated the Amendment 4 abortion rights constitutional amendment in Tuesday’s election, as it fell short of the 60% threshold to pass.

The measure only had 57% of support with 94% of votes counted, which means Florida’s existing six-week abortion ban will remain in place.

“We are profoundly disappointed with today’s result that reflects the will of only a minority of voters,” said Laura Goodhue, Executive Director of the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, and one of the leaders of the Yes on 4 campaign. “Planned Parenthood health centers in Florida have seen firsthand the devastating impact abortion bans have on patients and providers in Florida and across the country. The defeat of Amendment 4 will only add to that misery.”

Anti abortion rights advocates celebrated the measure’s defeat Tuesday.

“Florida’s voters again had the choice — do we want to be like California? Their answer was ‘NO,'” said spokeswoman Taryn Fenske of Vote No on 4, who said the $120 million promoting Amendment 4 was “twice as much money as has ever been spent on any pro-abortion Amendment in America. We protected our constitution because of the singular vision and steadfast leadership of Gov. Ron DeSantis.”

Amendment 4 supporters blamed DeSantis for Tuesday night’s defeat, accusing him of using taxpayer dollars to “deceive voters and undermine our democracy.”

“This loss does not reflect the will of the Floridians, who turned out in droves to reject Florida’s abortion ban and say clearly that they don’t want government in their personal medical decisions,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, CEO and President of Planned Parenthood Action. “This is not over. The unprecedented number of Floridians who came out to vote shows just how strong the movement to restore abortion access in Florida really is. We won’t stop until reproductive freedom is a reality for every Floridian.”

Floridians Protecting Freedom, the political committee behind Amendment 4, led a grassroots effort collecting signatures to get the initiative restoring abortion rights on the ballot. The PC’s war chest came from a combination of multimillion-dollar donations from progressive groups and tens of thousands of smaller donors.

Leading up into the election, Amendment 4 faced an all-out war from DeSantis and state leaders who deployed taxpayer resources to oppose the measure and spent millions on ads against it. They argued Amendment 4 was too extreme in the opposite direction and was written vaguely to regulate abortion industry. Critics also worried it would make Florida a destination for women who needed the medical procedure in the South.

The Department of Health openly campaigned against Amendment 4. DeSantis’ allies also pushed through a financial impact statement appearing on the ballot, which FPF argued wasn’t meant to inform voters but to discourage them from voting for abortion rights.

DeSantis targeted Amendment 4 as he traveled around the state during regular press conferences that became political rallies, where he took no press questions and brought in anti-abortion rights doctors and former NFL Coach Tony Dungy onto the stage with him.

DeSantis’ administration tried to silence his critics by sending cease and desist letters to TV stations playing pro-abortion rights ads. At least one media outlet, WINK-TV, took down the ads for five days as TV stations were threatened with criminal prosecution. A federal Judge blocked the state from intervening further, one of the rare times DeSantis’ administration was stopped in court as abortion rights advocates accused him of illegally blurring the lines as a government leader intervening in an ballot initiative.

Election police also knocked on the doors of some Amendment 4 petition signers and accused the FPF of violating rules when the campaign collected signatures.

Florida was one of 10 states deciding reproductive freedom this election with abortion emerging as a leading issue across the country following the end of Roe v Wade.

Tallahassee lawmakers passed an abortion ban at six weeks for most pregnancies that went into effect in May, with abortion rights advocates calling it one of the most extreme abortion bans in the country.