DeSantis fights back on Amendment 4

Florida may not be the swing state it used to be, but we’ll be on the map and certainly making headlines for at least one big reason this year: Abortion.

Now, Gov. Ron Desantis is putting his money where his mouth is, and pulling out all the stops to defeat Amendment 4 on the November ballot.

“To me, that’s untenable to just sit here and let George Soros run amendments in our state and not be willing to stand up and say, no, not on our watch,” said DeSantis.

Desantis is taking on Florida’s abortion amendment head-on, calling out any Florida congressional Republicans who haven’t publicly opposed it.

A video clip making the rounds on social media shows him attacking not just the amendment itself but also how it got on the ballot in the first place, proposed by a political committee that includes a group sponsored by businessman and philanthropist George Soros.

“If Soros can come in and run these amendments and have success, you are going to see more left-wing groups decide to do that,” said DeSantis. “So you end up, after three or four election cycles, you end up being California through the back door.”

An article in the Tampa Bay Times reports that the governor’s deputy secretary of state is asking supervisors to review about 36,000 signatures collected to put Amendment 4 on the ballot, at least two of which, it says, come from voters in Lee County.

DeSantis has been openly critical of the amendment’s wording as well.

“A constitutional amendment that will mandate abortion up until the moment of birth, that will eliminate parental consent for minors. And that’s written in a way that’s intentionally designed to deceive voters,” said DeSantis.

The amendment itself, however, says it “does not change the legislature’s constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion,” but DeSantis isn’t convinced.

Amendment 4 would need 60 percent voter support to pass.

Election Day is Nov. 5.