QUICK LOOK

  • Florida’s Supreme Court is reviewing a pro-abortion ballot initiative today.
  • The proposed initiative would amend the state’s constitution to make abortion a right.
  • If the Court approve the initiatives language, the proposed constitutional amendment will appear on Florida’s ballot in November.
  • The initiative’s vague language would make it impossible to regulate abortions.

A long-simmering battle over abortion in Florida is ramping-up, with the state’s Supreme Court set to decide whether “The Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion,” a constitutional amendment guaranteeing abortion access in Florida, will appear on state’s ballot in November.

Background

The initiative’s sponsor, a group called Floridians Protecting Freedom (FPF), started campaigning for state-wide abortion access last May, claiming to give voters “the chance to ensure that their personal medical decisions are theirs and theirs alone to make.”

The proposed amendment reads:

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.

The Florida Division of Elections officially dubbed the initiative Amendment 4 after FPF collected almost 911,000 signatures in support of the proposal — far more than the 891,523 signatures Florida requires to qualify for ballot placement.

“Today marks the official end of the first phase of the campaign — qualifying for ballot placement,” FPA celebrated on January 26th.

From here, we move onto Supreme Court review. Once the Florida Supreme Court confirms what we know already, that our ballot title and summary meet the requirements to go to voters, we will have crossed the final hurdle.
Opposition

Pro-lifers argue the proposed measure’s text will mislead voters at the ballot box.

“Florida’s Supreme Court is tasked with the responsibility of determining whether a ballot measure summary is misleading to voters,” the Daily Citizen’s pro-life expert Nicole Hunt explains, continuing,

Florida’s Attorney General [Ashley Moody] argues that the failure to define viability and health in the proposed abortion amendment is intentionally vague and may mislead voters as they consider the implications of the amendment.

The State’s main concern seems to be that Amendment 4 won’t just protect abortion access, as FPF states, but deregulate abortion in Florida all together.

“Undefined terms such as ‘healthcare provider’ (most of them non-medical), ‘health,’ ‘necessary,’ and ‘viability’ mean there will be no regulation of abortion,” Liberty Counsel writes of Amendment 4.

“Lawyers representing the State of Florida and other pro-life organizations contend that, if passed, this amendment would make it unlawful for the State of Florida to regulate abortions due to the vague and undefined terms,” Hunt adds.

Leaning

The Court appears to be leaning toward approving the initiative, as of 12:00 MST today, after seeming to find the language sufficiently clear.

“It’s pretty obvious that this is an aggressive, comprehensive approach to dealing with this issue,” assessed Chief Justice Carlos G. Muñiz, according to Bloomberg. “The people of Florida aren’t stupid, they can figure out what this says.”

Justice John D. Couriel added, “If I understand [the State’s] position, you’re saying this s a wolf. And a wolf it may be, but it seems our job is to say whether it’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

Takeaway

Governments’ first and, arguably, most important function is to protect the physical wellbeing of their constituents. This mandate should logically and morally extend to unborn children. Therefore, citizens should oppose laws that absolve governments — and families — of this critical responsibility.

Additional Articles and Resources

Liberty Counsel Oral Arguments Against The Florida Abortion Ballot Initiative

Ohio, the Culture of Death and the Ominous Signs the Worst is Yet to Come

After Ohio Loss, Pro-Life Supporters Must Become Modern Day Prophets

We Need Your Votes! Why Christians Must Vote this November