by National Women’s Liberation – Gainesville chapter, and The Gainesville Radical Reproductive Rights Network
The proposed Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion, known as Amendment 4, received majority support from Florida voters in the November election, but did not receive the required 60% support to become part of the Florida constitution.
This means that Florida’s 6-week limit on abortion remains in place.
This limitation was passed into law in April 2023 by the Florida Legislature and Governor. The law was then allowed to go into effect on May 1 by the Florida Supreme Court. Floridians were not able to overturn the 6-week limitation by the referendum process. The amendment’s sponsor, Floridians Protecting Freedom, and allied organizations (including our groups) mourn the loss but won’t give up.
57.2 percent of Florida voters in the November 2024 election voted yes on Amendment 4. In Alachua County, 68% of voters voted yes, making us the most supportive county across the state after only Broward County where 69% of voters voted yes.
Alachua County voters and voters across the State of Florida were moved to vote yes by over 200 grassroots organizations who did the hard work, week after week, from May 2023 through election day this month to build public support. Amendment 4 would have restored Floridians’ access to abortion by bringing us back to where we were before the 6-week limit and the earlier 15-week limit were implemented.
What’s the difference between Florida and the 11 states that have successfully passed citizen-led constitutional amendment efforts?
We are the only state so far that had to beat the high bar of 60% to pass their ballot initiatives. Florida also faced the unique situation of our state government leveraging a very large amount of taxpayer resources to wage an anti-Amendment 4 campaign. This government-run campaign against Amendment 4 may have been the main obstacle to passing the amendment. It’s going to take time and investigation to determine just how much taxpayer money was used and what sources were used. Floridians Protecting Freedom states that Florida’s government has spent at least $20 million on “public service announcements” to defeat Amendment 4.
In this issue of the Iguana, there will be an article about the Florida 2006 ballot initiative which switched the required number of votes for Florida constitutional amendment passage from 50% to 60%. That initiative didn’t even reach the 60% threshold; it passed with 57% of the vote.
We did much better in Florida on Amendment 4 than any candidate did in the presidential race. Of course, now we face a new U.S. president and Congress that may try to strip abortion and birth control from us at the federal level.
We have no choice but to stand up and fight, because the alternative may be a rollback of our fundamental rights.
Every right that we have as women, working people, people of color, and other oppressed groups has been won by movements of everyday people joining together in organizations to win them. Please contribute your time and join with your membership dues one of the grassroots membership organizations in Alachua County or across the state and the U.S. which are committed to defending and expanding abortion rights and democratic principles. You are needed.
To find out more, follow or direct message the National Women’s Liberation-Gainesville chapter at https://www.instagram.com/nwlgainesville or the GRRR! Network at https://www.instagram.com/thegrrrnetwork
To learn more about Amendment 4, go to www.floridiansprotectingfreedom.com.