Any day now, the Florida supreme court is set to decide whether a radical amendment to enshrine virtually unlimited abortion on demand in the state constitution will appear on the ballot this November. The proponents, largely funded by Planned Parenthood and other abortion businesses, the ACLU, and Open Society Fund, have already spent $15 million in their efforts to turn Florida into the late-term abortion destination of the southeast U.S. and the Caribbean.
During oral arguments last month, Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz referred to the amendment as a “wolf” that is sweeping in its extremism. We agree.
The proposed amendment purports to be about one issue: limiting “government interference” with abortion. In reality, it lumps together at least eight distinct topics. It would tie the hands of every branch of government from enforcing laws on the books that are overwhelmingly popular in Florida.
That’s not allowed under the state’s single-subject requirement, and amendment proponents know it. Voters must clearly understand what they’re voting on when they consider changing the state constitution. Florida courts have ruled against deceptive amendments like this time after time. The only way it will pass is if voters don’t know the truth until it’s too late.
This ballot measure undermines the will of the people of Florida in at least three ways. It would allow late-term abortions throughout pregnancy well after science shows babies feel pain. It would invalidate parental rights. And it would eliminate health and safety protections for women, including basic oversight laws enacted after women were maimed — and even killed — during abortions in South Florida in the 1980s and ’90s. Even under the current standards, in 2022 alone the Agency for Health Care Administration initiated 31 administrative actions against Florida’s 52 abortion clinics. Imagine what would happen if none of those laws are in place and there’s nobody overseeing the clinics.
Floridians have made it very clear that they stand for compassion and common sense and reject the pro-choice agenda of all-trimester abortion on demand. Florida outlawed painful late-term abortions. It has also enacted protections for babies with beating hearts, a policy supported by more than 60 percent of the state’s voters. And Floridians stand with our pregnancy centers, which provide indispensable help to moms all across the state.
The proposed amendment is an assault on all of these protections. Take its duplicitous language, such as its use of the word “viability.” The implication is that abortion could be limited to when babies can survive outside the womb. But then, it allows the abortionist — who directly profits from the procedure — to be the sole decider of when a baby is “viable” or whether an abortion is necessary for “health” reasons. This language effectively allows second- and third-trimester abortions.
Under current Florida laws, the state can shutter abortion facilities that pose a danger to public health and safety. As recently as 2022, the Agency for Health Care Administration closed down a Pensacola abortion center that botched abortions and injured at least three women. One woman had to have a full hysterectomy, while another needed resuscitation and a blood transfusion after staff instructed her husband to drive her 60 miles to a hospital in Alabama.
At no point were the women’s vital signs monitored. Nor were their hospitalizations reported, as required by law. The abortion doctor in charge also failed to communicate with doctors at the Alabama hospital. The abortionist didn’t even know the abortion center’s policies; he depended on the facility manager, who lacked a medical license. If the amendment passes, this will be perfectly legal, and the state of Florida won’t be able to do a thing about it.
Should the amendment pass, Florida can expect dilution of medical qualifications for those performing abortions. As Dr. Mary O’Sullivan, a retired director of maternal fetal medicine for the University of Miami, has written, under the amendment, “‘healthcare provider’ does not have to be a doctor or have relevant medical expertise” to practice abortions. “That’s because the amendment doesn’t define the term, and depending on which Florida statute you read, health care providers include anything from podiatrists, optometrists, chiropractors and nurses to physical trainers and acupuncturists.”
Floridians stand up for our girls and protect their safety. Since 2020, our laws have required parental consent for minors prior to an abortion. More than 70 percent of Florida voters support this requirement. That includes 60 percent of Democrats, 70 percent of Independents, and 58 percent of voters who described themselves as pro-choice. Floridians know that parents, not strangers, should be the ones helping their children make serious, life-altering medical decisions.
But if the amendment passes, parents’ right to protect their daughters will be gutted. Instead of requiring parental consent, as is current Florida law, the amendment’s text states that lawmakers can only require parental “notification.” What can this look like in practice? Look at what Planned Parenthood employees themselves say about whether parents should be involved at all. In Missouri, a Planned Parenthood employee was caught on video dismissing parental rights entirely as she offered to help a man transport a 13-year-old girl to a facility out of state. “We never tell the parents anything,” the employee admitted. As far as they’re concerned, “she’s an adult.” With parental consent eliminated by the amendment, it’s not hard to imagine how little interest Planned Parenthood will have in involving a parent when a middle-school girl comes through the doors of its facilities.
The video appears to show Planned Parenthood open to transporting minors across state lines without parental consent, which Missouri has outlawed, in part to protect minors from sexual abuse. Missouri’s attorney general is
now suingPlanned Parenthood as a result. But the abortion industry cares more about profit than the safety of young girls. ACLU lobbyists, a primary funder and driver of this initiative, fight tooth and nail against parents having any say in major decisions that permanently alter their children’s lives.
How are the voters to know any of this with a ballot summary that copies the legal text word-for-word and fails to explain the real-life implications of the measure? Abortion advocates know they lack support for the extreme amendment. So it’s no wonder they have chosen to not clearly summarize the impact of the amendment and that paid signature gatherers have been caught cheating by employing fraudulent signatures to get it on the ballot. We’re proud that the state of Florida is fighting back against out-of-state extremists’ unconstitutional tactics to overturn Florida’s commonsense laws.
Florida is a pro-woman, pro-life, pro-family state. This amendment would change the Florida constitution to undermine Floridians’ compassionate will to serve mothers and save babies.
Katie Daniel is a resident of Tampa and serves as the state policy director for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. She is a member of the Florida Bar and a proud graduate of the University of Florida Levin College of Law. Stephen Billy is the vice president of state affairs for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.
