Campaign behind Florida’s abortion rights amendment disbands after measure fails

Accross the country, abortion is on the ballot in 2024. Image via AP.

The political committee behind an abortion rights amendment on this year’s statewide ballot will disband at the end of the year.

Floridians Protecting Freedom submitted a disbandment letter dated Dec. 27 to the Division of Elections. The letter, from Floridians Protecting Freedom Chair Sara Latshaw, said the committee will formally disband on Dec. 31 and submit its final financial report by Jan. 10.

The committee launched in April 2023 and successfully gathered enough petitions to earn a spot on the ballot for Amendment 4. The organization submitted more than 1.4 million signatures, far above the 892,523 required. The Florida Supreme Court in April approved the ballot language submitted by Floridians Protecting Freedom to appear on the ballot over the objections of Attorney General Ashley Moody.

But the measure ultimately fell short of passage. If it passed, language would have been enshrined in the Florida Constitution protecting abortion access and reversing a ban on abortions six weeks into pregnancy.

Ultimately, 57% of voters — almost 6.1 million statewide — voted in favor of the referendum, but Florida law requires proposed constitutional amendments to receive the support of 60% of voters to pass.

Gov. Ron DeSantis campaigned heavily against the amendment. Some criticized the use of state resources to fight the measure.

Notably, the disbandment of Floridians Protecting Freedom came weeks after the committee reached a $164,000 settlement with Florida’s State Department amid allegations that paid petition circulators submitted thousands of fraudulent petitions.

The settlement between the organization and the state was reached on Dec. 16. A memo submitted by the Office of Election Crimes and Security to DeSantis and legislative leaders said the state will still investigate dozens of accusations that individual circulators submitted forged signatures.

The message said three petition circulators working with the organization have been convicted for illegal activities gathering signatures, with one sentenced to years in prison.

Over the 19-month lifespan of Floridians Protecting Freedom, the political committee raised almost $111 million in cash contributions to support the Amendment 4 campaign. Supporting groups also provided more than $10.4 million worth of in-kind support for the effort

More than twice as much was spent supporting the Florida measure than any similar ballot effort to restore abortion rights in the nation. The Florida referendum was the first time since Supreme Court Justices overturned Roe v. Wade that a ballot measure restoring abortion rights failed.