In just one week, Florida voters will vote on whether to entrench abortion rights in the state constitution via a ballot initiative that Gov. Ron DeSantis and his administration have spent months defending in court.
If passed, Amendment 4—officially named “The Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion”—would prohibit any law from regulating abortion before fetal viability, which is normally about 24 weeks, according to experts. After the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022, the amendment would eliminate the state’s current six-week abortion prohibition.
Following the reversal of Roe v. Wade, Florida will be one of ten states to have reproductive rights-related initiatives on the ballot.
A recent New York Times/Siena College poll revealed that 46% of Floridians support the proposition, 38% oppose it, and 16% refuse to answer or say they don’t know. 60% of voters must approve the ballot measure for it to pass on November 5.
The governor and his allies have waged a vigorous campaign against the ballot measure.
During a press conference last week, where a dozen doctors were present, DeSantis asserted that when addressing constitutional amendments, the default response should always be “no.” “You may always change standard policies and laws. Once enshrined in the constitution, it becomes irreversible. You literally have no hope of ever reversing it.”
Earlier this month, the Florida Department of Health sent letters to television stations across the state, including ABC-affiliated stations, urging them not to play an ad supporting the ballot measure and threatening criminal charges against those who did not comply. The advertisement featured a Florida woman discussing her brain cancer diagnosis two years ago, during her 20-week pregnancy.
Caroline Williams, a resident of Florida, said in the advertisement, “The doctors knew that if I did not end my pregnancy, I would lose my baby, I would lose my life, and my daughter would lose her mom,” adding that she believes she would have died if she had received a diagnosis under the state’s current six-week abortion ban, which went into effect earlier this year.
After Floridians Protecting Freedom, the ballot initiative’s sponsor, sued the state for threatening “criminal proceedings” against the broadcast stations, a federal judge issued a restraining order against Florida’s surgeon general, preventing the Department of Health from threatening the stations.
In his decision, U.S. District Judge Mark Walker emphasized the importance of the First Amendment for the State of Florida.
John Wilson, the Department of Health attorney who signed the letters to the television stations, resigned two weeks ago, claiming in a sworn document that DeSantis’ counsel authored the letters and told him to send them in his name.
“I resigned from my position as General Counsel in lieu of complying with directives… to send out further correspondence to the media outlets,” Wilson said in his declaration. “The right of broadcasters to communicate freely is based on the First Amendment. Threats against broadcast stations for airing content that contradicts the government’s viewpoints are hazardous and undermine the fundamental premise of free expression.”
Critics of DeSantis argue that the letter threatening broadcasters was not his administration’s lone attempt at intimidation.
Last month, two Florida residents said that law enforcement from the Office of Election Crimes and Security, which DeSantis established in 2022, visited their doors and inquired about petitions they had signed to place the amendment on the November ballot, according to the Miami Herald.
One of the residents, Isaac Menasche, claimed in a Facebook post that he had signed a petition to put the right to abortion on the ballot in Florida. “The incident had me shaken. What bothered me was that [the officer] had a folder on me with my personal information.”
DeSantis defended the Election Crimes Unit’s actions, stating at a press conference last month that there were “a lot of complaints” about one organization supporting Amendment 4.
DeSantis said of the Elections Crimes team, “They’re doing what’s supposed to do.” “They’re following the law.”
Last month, the Election Crimes Unit produced a report suggesting that Floridians Protecting Freedom used petition fraud to obtain the 891,523 signatures required to place the amendment on the ballot. The group has denied all wrongdoing.
“These lawsuits, coming on the heels of the State of Florida’s latest attempt to undermine Floridians’ right to vote on Amendment 4, are desperate,” said Lauren Brenzel, director of the “Yes on 4” campaign supporting the amendment. “Ask yourself, why is this happening now — over half a year after over 997,000 petitions were verified by the state of Florida and with less than a month until the election — that these anti-abortion extremists want to relitigate the petition-collection process?”
“It’s because our campaign is winning and the government and its extremist allies are trying to do everything they can to stop Floridians from having the rights they deserve,” Brenzel said.