TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A group railing against Florida’s pro-abortion ballot initiative warned that Florida taxpayers could foot the bill for abortions if the measure is approved this November.
In essence, Florida’s potential newfound constitutional guarantee could fuel legal muster to place the operations on the government’s expenditure obligations, the group warned.
The organization, “Vote No On 4,” pointed to a Michigan instance where voters had “no idea” approving a constitutional protection for abortion could mean taxpayer dollars subsidize the practice.
“But lawyers with the ACLU, which drafted and defended both Michigan’s amendment and Florida’s Amendment 4, recently filed a lawsuit based on Michigan’s abortion amendment to overturn that law prohibiting public funding of abortion and to compel Michigan to provide taxpayer funding of abortion through Medicaid,” the group said.
“The lawsuit argues that without taxpayer funding for abortions, Michiganders experience a ‘delay [in] access to care’ – language which uses the same operative term – delay – as Amendment 4,” it said.
In the lawsuit out of Michigan, the filers said that denying Medicaid coverage for patients who are considering abortion “may delay their access to care.”
“Accordingly, the coverage ban burdens and infringes upon Medicaid-eligible patients’ constitutional right to reproductive freedom,” the lawsuit reads.
The group further warned that if Amendment 4 is approved by voters, the ACLU will file a similar case in Florida.
“The interest groups who wrote and continue to defend Amendment 4 have repeatedly refused to tell voters existing laws it would overturn,” Attorney General Ashley Moody said. “This Michigan case makes it crystal clear that reasonable laws that most people on both sides of the abortion issue support will be challenged in court if Amendment 4 passes. Because of how broad and misleading Amendment 4 is, voters need to understand that seemingly uncontroversial laws will likely be overturned.”
“At only 34 words, Amendment 4 provides no definitions for any of its operative terms, creating enormous loopholes and entry points for inevitable lawsuits,” Vote No On 4 said.
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Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican Party of Florida are starkly opposed to the amendment.
DeSantis has warned that the amendment will also trounce laws requiring parental consent if a minor wants to obtain an abortion.
https://flvoicenews.com/group-warns-ballot-initiative-could-force-florida-taxpayers-to-pay-for-abortions/
