Florida voters reject abortion rights initiative

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Florida voters are projected Tuesday to reject a pro-choice constitutional amendment that would have overturned the state’s six-week ban on abortion and restored access to the procedure up to about 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Amendment 4, or the “Abortion Rights Initiative,” sought to add language to the Florida Constitution stating that “no law shall prohibit, punish, delay, or restrict abortion before it is viable or when necessary to protect health.” patient, as determined by the patient’s healthcare facility.” provider”.

The amendment required a supermajority of 60% to pass, but received 57% of the vote. It’s the first abortion rights amendment to fail since federal abortion protections fell, despite the support of a majority of Floridians.

The evening election observer group was filled with hundreds of supporters who started the evening energized; play some nice music and hand out purple pom poms for fans to wave. The evening felt like David and Goliath, a small but powerful group challenging Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and his radical anti-abortion agenda. But as the night went on, supporters grew quiet, with many looking at their phones to watch the votes come in, with support for Amendment 4 stagnating at 57%.

Lauren Brenzel, director of the Yes on 4 campaign, took the stage around 9 pm ET to announce the amendment’s heartbreaking defeat. Several people in the room hugged, wiping away tears. Brenzel reminded the crowd that a majority of Floridians voted to end the state’s six-week abortion ban, and she plans to hold lawmakers accountable for their promises to repeal it.

“I hope legislators keep their campaign word,” Brenzel said. “We charge you to repeal Florida’s extreme abortion ban this legislative session.”

The result was a disappointment for pro-choice advocates in the state, who worked tirelessly and raised millions to get the measure on the ballot. For Freedom Floridians, the collective behind Amendment 4, the Abortion Rights Initiative has been a tougher fight than any other abortion rights vote this election season, given the onslaught of attacks from Republican leadership.

Sarah Parker, chairwoman of Yes On 4, walked out swaying as she performed in front of a tearful crowd on Tuesday night.

“This is war. This is a war against our reproductive freedom. And not every lost battle is a won war. We didn’t lose today,” she said.

“We will continue to fight as hard as we can… I’ll be damned if we leave this room with a defeatist attitude,” Parker continued. “Eighty-four thousand patients depend on us. So tonight, hug your friends, hug your families, hug your loved ones, but you will go out there tomorrow and tell Florida that we are at 57%.”

DeSantis has turned Florida into one of the most ardently anti-abortion states in the country. Using taxpayer money, DeSantis launched a brazen attack on the pro-choice amendment months before Election Day. The governor traveled around the state in the weeks leading up to the election, holding rallies against the Fourth Amendment.

“Repealing the pro-life 4th Amendment is an important victory for life in Florida and for our entire country,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the national anti-abortion group SBA Pro-Life America, said in a press release Tuesday evening. “Thanks to Governor Ron DeSantis, when we wake up tomorrow, children with beating hearts will still be protected in the free state of Florida.”

Floridians were completely absent in the weeks leading up to Election Day. On Monday, a couple dozen students at the University of Central Florida in Orlando put forward proposals for Amendments 3 and 4, handed out literature about where to vote and answered questions about ballot initiatives. The DeSantis administration also opposed the Third Amendment, which seeks to legalize the recreational use of marijuana.

Florida House Representatives Anna Eskamani (D) and Maxwell Frost (D) attended college at UCF. Democrats group on campus to get a voice. Eskamani, who worked in Planned Parenthood Six years before she was elected to the state legislature, she told HuffPost that she moved her entire get-out-the-vote campaign to focus entirely on the Yes on 4 campaign in the days leading up to the election.

Jessica, a UCF sophomore and member of the College Democrats, has been handing out literature to students every day for the past three weeks. She told HuffPost that most of her conversations with other students were simply informing them that there was a pro-choice amendment on the ballot and what it would do. Most students, she said, don’t even realize that Florida has a six-week ban on abortion.

“We’re just trying to get students to understand that it’s not just the top ticket that matters, it’s the ‘yes’ on 3 and 4,” Jessica said. “Yes, question 4 is a really important point because we want women to have autonomy over their bodies.”

“I think a lot of students really care about reproductive rights,” she added.

There were several students from UCF College there. republicans group setting table in support Donald Trump and handed out leaflets opposing Amendments 3 and 4. When Jessica took the microphone to speak to passing students, urging them to get out and vote for Amendment 4 and support Harris/Waltz, one Republican student shouted, “The election was stolen!”

Other attacks on DeSantis leading up to Election Day included addition misleading statement of financial impact along with a pro-choice amendment. The statement was prepared by a supposedly nonpartisan committee that included a spokesman for the governor’s office and an economist at the Heritage Foundation, the ultra-conservative think tank behind Project 2025.

The DeSantis administration also armed A nonpartisan government agency launched a disinformation campaign against Amendment 4, claiming that the six-week abortion ban was designed to “protect women from dangerous and unsanitary conditions.” This accusation is untrue when several Florida women made national news for having life-saving abortions delayed or denied due to the six-week ban.

A month before the election, the Florida Department of Health sent a cease-and-desist letter to several local news outlets. threatening criminal charges if the media continues to air advertisements supporting Amendment 4. later it turned out that the letter signed by John Wilson, then the Department of Health’s general counsel, was in fact written by DeSantis’ lawyers. DeSantis officials gave the document to Wilson and ordered him to sign his name on it. Wilson resigned shortly thereafter, writing in his resignation letter that “a man without a conscience is nothing.”

The state’s six-week abortion ban, which includes vague exceptions for rape, incest and pregnancy, will remain in place.