Florida's abortion amendment does not meet the 60% threshold for passage

A proposed constitutional amendment to expand abortion rights in Florida fell short of the 60% of votes needed to vote Tuesday, leaving the state’s six-week abortion ban in place.

Amendment 4, which still secured 57% of the vote, would have amended the Florida Constitution to allow abortions until viability, approximately 24 weeks into pregnancy. The proposal would also have allowed abortions thereafter if a health care provider deemed it necessary to protect the patient’s health.

Florida requires citizen-initiated amendments to get at least a supermajority of 60% of the vote, the highest threshold in the country. The defeat makes Florida the first state to fail to pass a measure protecting abortion rights since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Roe v. Wade in 2022.

Supporters of the amendment gathered at a St. Petersburg event hall for a watch party on Tuesday evening, lamenting the outcome but vowing to keep fighting for abortion rights.

Lauren Brenzel, campaign director at Floridians Protecting Freedom, the group that supported the measure, said the majority vote “sent a clear message” to the state Legislature.

“Republicans, Democrats and independents do not support this extreme ban on abortion,” Brenzel said. “They are tired of women dying because of the abortion ban. They are tired because women are forced to bear children who die in their arms because of the abortion ban. They are tired of doctors being threatened with prison because of the abortion ban.”

Opponents of Amendment 4 celebrated their victory.

“The Florida Constitution does not recognize a right to abortion and the people of Florida have decided that it should remain that way. This amendment, mired in deceptive language and allegations of fraudulent petitions, should never have come to a vote,” Mat Staver, founder and president of Liberty Counsel, said in a statement. The group was part of a ‘Vote No on 4’ campaign.

On May 1, Florida passed a law banning most abortions after six weeks, with exceptions if the mother’s life is in danger, if the fetus has a fatal abnormality or in cases of rape, incest or human trafficking. Doctors who break the law risk losing their medical license, fines and up to five years in prison.

Supporters of Amendment 4 argued that the law is too restrictive because many patients don’t even realize they are pregnant after just six weeks. They also say the exceptions are too limited and that the lack of clarity surrounding it leads some doctors to deny patients medical care because they worry about the legal risks.

Opponents, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, defend the six-week ban, saying the exceptions are clear.

“We fought the good fight, we kept the confidence and we finished the race. Thank you to @GovRonDeSantis and our incredible team for all they have sacrificed in recent months to protect our great state from amendments that sought to attack our families and our way of life,” James Uthmeier, DeSantis’ chief of staff, said on X.

Abortion opponents have credited DeSantis’ advocacy for the result.

For months, DeSantis taxpayer resources used to urge residents to vote against the amendment through government service announcements, a website and at campaign rallies.

“The demise of pro-abortion Amendment 4 is a momentous victory for Florida life and for our entire country. Thanks to Governor Ron DeSantis, when we wake up tomorrow, babies with beating hearts will still be protected in the free state of Florida,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said in a statement.

She referred to a ‘fetal heartbeat’, where heart activity can be detected around six weeks. Many medical experts say this is an incorrect term.

DeSantis and other critics of the amendment called the proposal’s language “vague” and “deceptive.” They argued that the terms “viability” and “provider” were not defined, which could lead to more abortions later in pregnancy and unlicensed professionals performing abortions.

Legal experts such as Louis Virelli, professor of constitutional law at Stetson University College of Law, disputes claims that the amendment was not clearly worded.

Viability is a widely understood medical term and has since been used to determine abortion policy Roe v. Wade established federal abortion protections in 1973. Exceptions thereafter to protect the mother’s life were also standard, and Virelli said Amendment 4 would not have stripped the state of its ability to ensure that only professionals licensed to perform abortions would be allowed to do so . . Voters had a clear choice this election, he said.

“Do you want the world that existed in the US from 1973 to now, or do you want the world before 1973?” Virelli said ahead of Tuesday’s election. “And people are of course free and qualified to make that choice for themselves. What worries me is that there has been misinformation that makes this choice sound different, and that is not the case.”

The Florida Supreme Court also rejected arguments from Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office that the wording of the amendment was vague this year when the state tried to prevent the ballot from appearing on the November ballot.

The legal battle with the state has continued in recent months. Floridians who protect freedom unsuccessfully sued To get the state to remove a website, the Agency for Health Care Administration launched an effort to encourage residents to vote “no” on the amendment. But they were victorious in a battle to get the state to stop threatening TV stations for running an ad in support of the amendment.

Sarah Parker, executive director of Voices of Florida, encouraged abortion rights advocates to keep fighting despite the defeat of Amendment 4.

Lawyers for the state had demanded that broadcasters stop showing the ad, arguing that it contained false information about the state’s abortion law, but a judge ruled that it censored political speech. A top attorney at the Department of Health resigned over the incident and signed an affidavit saying he did not write the threatening letters with his signature and that he was pressured by lawyers from the governor’s office to send them.

Also a group of opponents of abortion has filed a lawsuit Floridians are accusing Protecting Freedom of fraudulently collecting petition signatures to get the amendment on the ballot.

Floridians Protecting Freedom has raised more than $100 million since April 2023 to get the amendment passed, spending significantly more than their opponents. But it wasn’t enough to convince a supermajority of voters.

The failure of the amendment puts abortion policy in the hands of the legislature. Republicans have a supermajority, so it seems unlikely that there will be any effort to loosen abortion restrictions, although some have expressed interest in passing even stricter restrictions.

Supporters of Amendment 4 urged attendees at the St. Petersburg Watch Party to prepare for the next legislative session, where they plan to pressure lawmakers to expand abortion rights. They say the 57% of people voting to approve the amendment should serve as a “stark reminder” to elected officials that the six-week ban “was not, is not and will not be the will” of voters.

“This is war, this is war on our reproductive freedoms. And not every battle lost is a war won,” said Sarah Parker, executive director of Voices of Florida and executive committee member of the “Yes on 4” campaign.