In a victory for unborn life and women, Florida’s extreme pro-abortion Amendment 4 failed to get the needed votes at the ballot box to amend the state’s constitution. Amendment 4’s ballot vote failed to achieve the required 60 percent threshold. This is a dramatic defeat considering that Planned Parenthood and other abortion proponents poured over $100 million into the campaign to pass Amendment 4. The opponents of Amendment 4 were far outspent but focused their efforts in churches and getting out their message going door-to-door.
Amendment 4 would have led to abortion on-demand through all nine months of pregnancy for any reason. The broad and sweeping amendment would have struck down every abortion law in Florida (except for parental notification) and changed the state from one of the most protective of unborn life to one of the most dangerous. Specifically, it would have invalidated parental consent laws, the requirement that licensed doctors perform abortions, informed consent, health and safety regulations, and would have required taxpayers to fund abortion.
Amendment 4 was sponsored by Floridians Protecting Freedom, Inc., and was heavily funded by George Soros’ Open Society Fund, Planned Parenthood, and the ACLU.
Even though Amendment 4 did not pass, the effort to get it on the ballot remains under investigation by the Florida Office of Election Crimes & Security (OECS), as well as by state law enforcement. According to the OECS, there are more than 100 ongoing investigations into the “widespread” use of potentially fraudulent signatures used to help place the amendment on the ballot. State officials reported that the amendment’s sponsor employed “known or suspected fraudsters” in the signature collection effort. Preliminary audits reveal that enough signatures could be invalidated making Amendment 4 an illegal ballot initiative.
Liberty Counsel Action led the official grassroots “No on 4” campaign. President John Stemberger stated, “Floridians have clearly rejected the extreme abortion agenda of Planned Parenthood and the ACLU. The language was so extreme that the sponsors virtually never explained the facts on their website, in any advertisements, or even when confronted by the Florida Supreme Court in an oral argument. As a result, the sponsors overplayed their hand, thinking it would fool voters with highly deceptive and manipulative language. Even though we were outspent six to one, we had a far superior ground game, and the truth was on our side about the extreme nature of this amendment. There was energy and momentum at the grassroots level like I have never seen before.”
Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver stated, “We celebrate the defeat of Amendment 4. Florida’s constitution has no right to abortion and Floridians have decided that it should remain that way. This amendment, mired by deceptive language and allegations of fraudulent petitions, should have never been on the ballot. We commend everyone involved in grassroots efforts standing up against this amendment to protect women and girls and giving a voice to the unborn. As a result, Florida remains one of the most protective pro-life states for unborn life.”
