“Once it’s in the constitution, there’s no going back” Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks on Amendment 4

Writer: Kendell Gordon
Published: Updated:
DeSantis
(AP Photo/Byron Houlgrave)

Gov. Ron DeSantis held a news conference in Jacksonville at the Sacred Heart Jacksonville Parrish Center on Amendment 4 with doctors and physicians backing him.

In the conference, he discussed Amendment 4 and stated why he was against it.

Gov. Ron Desantis spoke on what he believes are the downsides if the amendment is passed, such as how it will affect the dynamic between child and parents.

He stated, “I think it’s the first amendment in the history of Florida [that] if it were to pass, it would take away people’s rights because this eliminates the right for parents to consent for a minor to have an abortion.”

He then goes on to state that children who go to a physician for painkillers like Tylenol would have to go through the parents to prescribe it and that abortion should hold the same principle when it comes to consent.

In the U.S. Constitution, Amendment 4 states that “No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider. This amendment does not change the Legislature’s constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion.”

One of the handful of doctors on stage with him, Family medicine physician Dr. Rebecca Peck, on why she stands with him. She touches on how abortion has affected her life at a young age and how the decision sent her into a downward spiral with mental illnesses.

“As a physician, a post-abortive woman and a mom, I have a message for all Floridians: vote no to Amendment 4 this Nov. 5.”

Dr. Rebecca Peck

WINK News reporter Olivia Jean interviewed Laura Goodhue, the Executive Director of Florida Planned Parenthood, on her stance on Amendment 4.

Goodhue said, “So wherever you feel about the issue of abortion, maybe you’ve never thought about it at all, but we can all agree that government should not be making decisions for individuals and families, and that’s what freedom is all about, and that we strongly believe that a vote for this means getting government interference out of our personal, private lives and putting an end to this egregious abortion ban.”

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