Amendment 4: Right to abortion

Amendment 4 could be called the most controversial issue Florida voters face: When women in our state can have an abortion.

Currently, Florida law restricts abortion to the first six weeks of pregnancy, with notable exceptions such as rape, incest and the life of the mother.

Amendment 4 would change Florida law significantly. This comes after Roe vs. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022, putting abortion rights in the state’s hands.

Critics of Florida’s current Heartbeat Bill argue that most women don’t even know they’re pregnant at six weeks. They’re correct; however, many women do know.

The state’s abortion statistics say in 2023, 40% of abortions were performed at six weeks gestation or earlier.

Laura Goodhue, the Executive Director of Florida Planned Parenthood, doesn’t think the state should be in the business of counting weeks.

“Government should not be making decisions for individuals and families and that’s what freedom is all about. 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,” Goodhue said.

Amendment 4 does not eliminate Florida’s parental notification requirement. The measure does leave the decision of when to get an abortion up to a woman and her doctor.

Amendment 4 reads, in part, “No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay or restrict abortion,” as well as says if passed, Florida will see more abortions and fewer live births per year. An increase in abortion could impact local revenues and the growth of the state.

“Nobody is making decisions [about abortion] lightly. They take these very seriously,” Goodhue said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and many other critics fear the state will become an “abortion on demand” state, drawing women from across the country.

“What Amendment 4 does in its writing, creates loopholes that allow anyone to have an abortion on demand up until birth,” Evan Power, the Chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, said.

Power told WINK News this amendment is big money from outside of Florida that is funding the effort to overturn the state’s abortion law.

“This is an attack on our legislature and an attack on our governance from out of state, people who want to do harm to Florida’s legislative and regulatory framework,” Power said.

Power also said terms aren’t defined in the amendment, causing uncertainty like viability and healthcare provider.

“Those are important words that people should know the definition of when they’re going to vote for something,” Power said.

Planned Parenthood said those are commonly used terms that don’t need definitions.

“Nobody can walk in a pregnant person’s shoes and make that decision for them, right? And so what we’re asking voters is to say, ‘Let those people make those decisions.’ Right? You cannot walk in someone else’s shoes. This is government interference at its worst,” Goodhue said.

Senators Rick Scott and Marco Rubio and Congressmen Byron Donalds, Mario Diaz-Balart, and Greg Stuebe all oppose Amendment 4.

Simply put, voting yes supports more access to abortions, and voting no leaves the current regulations in place.

Read the full amendment here.