Despite a majority of Floridians voting in favor of a proposed constitutional amendment to expand abortion rights, the measure fell just short of the 60% of votes needed to pass. That means the state’s current six-week abortion ban will remain in effect.
Just over 57% of people voted to approve Amendment 4, which would have changed Florida’s constitution to allow abortions until fetal viability, which usually occurs around 24 weeks of pregnancy. The proposal would have also allowed abortions after that if a patient’s healthcare provider deemed it was necessary to protect their health.
Florida requires citizen-initiated amendments to get at least a 60% supermajority of votes to pass, the highest threshold in the country. The defeat of Amendment 4 makes Florida the first state in the country where a measure to protect abortion rights has failed since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Supporters of the amendment packed into an event hall in St. Petersburg for a watch party on Tuesday night, where they lamented the amendment’s failure to pass but vowed to keep fighting for abortion rights.
Lauren Brenzel, campaign director with Floridians Protecting Freedom, the group that backed the amendment, focused on the fact that more than half of voters approved the amendment. They said that “sent a clear message” to the state legislature.
“Republicans, Democrats and independents do not support these extreme bans on abortion,” said Brenzel. “They are tired of women dying because of abortion bans. They are tired because of women being forced to give birth to children who die in their arms because of abortion bans. They are tired of doctors being threatened with prison time because of abortion bans.”
A victory for DeSantis and abortion opponents
Meanwhile opponents of Amendment 4 celebrated its defeat.
“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,” Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said in a statement. The group was part of a “Vote No on 4” campaign.
The results mean that the state's current abortion restrictions will remain in place for the foreseeable future.
Right now the state bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy with limited 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 violate the law face losing their medical license, fines and up to five years in prison.
The restrictions have not been attributed to any woman’s death, but reports have found similar bans in Georgia and Texas led to deaths in those states.
Proponents of Amendment 4 argue the ban is too restrictive, as many women, transgender and nonbinary people don’t even realize they are pregnant by six weeks. They also say the exceptions are too narrow and that the lack of clarity surrounding them is causing some doctors to deny patients medical care because they are worried about the legal risks.
Opponents, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, defend the six-week ban and say the exceptions are clear.
For months, DeSantis used taxpayer resources to urge residents to vote against the amendment through public service announcements, a website and at campaign-style rallies. Abortion opponents credited his advocacy for its defeat.
“The demise of pro-abortion Amendment 4 is a momentous victory for life in Florida and for our entire country. Thanks to Gov. Ron DeSantis, when we wake up tomorrow, babies with beating hearts will still be protected in the free state of Florida,” said Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser in a statement. She is referring to a so-called “fetal heartbeat,” when cardiac activity can be detected in a fetus, said to be around six weeks. Medical experts say that is an inaccurate term.
Advocates for abortion rights vow to keep fighting
DeSantis and other critics of the amendment called it “vague” and “deceptive.” They argued the terms “viability” and “healthcare provider” weren’t defined, which could lead to more abortions later in pregnancy and unlicensed professionals providing abortions.
Legal experts like Louis Virelli, a constitutional law professor at Stetson University College of Law, dispute claims that the amendment wasn’t worded clearly.
Viability is a commonly understood medical term and has been used to set abortion policy since Roe v. Wade established federal protections for abortion in 1973. Exceptions after that to protect the life of the mother were also standard, and Virelli said Amendment 4 would not have stripped the state of its ability to ensure 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's existed in the U.S. from 1973 until now, or do you want the one before 1973?“ Virelli said ahead of Tuesday’s election. “And people are obviously free and qualified to make that choice themselves. What concerns me is that there's been misinformation that makes this choice sound different, and it is not.”
The Florida Supreme Court also rejected arguments from Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office that the amendment’s language was vague earlier this year when the state attempted to stop the ballot from appearing on the November ballot.
Legal battles with the state have continued in recent months. Floridians Protecting Freedom unsuccessfully sued to get the state to take down a website the Agency for Health Care Administration launched encouraging 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.
Lawyers for the state had demanded broadcasters stop running the ad, arguing it contained false information about the state’s abortion law, but a judge ruled that was censoring political speech. A top lawyer for the health department resigned over the incident, signing an affidavit that said he did not write the threatening letters that bore his signature and that he was pressured by attorneys with the governor’s office to send them.
A group of abortion opponents also filed a lawsuit accusing Floridians Protecting Freedom of fraudulently gathering petition signatures in order to get the amendment on the ballot.
Floridians Protecting Freedom raised more than $100 million since April 2023 to get the amendment passed, spending significantly more than opponents. But it was not enough to convince a supermajority of voters.
The amendment’s failure leaves abortion policy in the state legislature's hands, at least for now. Republicans hold a supermajority in Florida’s legislature, so it seems unlikely there will be efforts to loosen abortion restrictions, though some have expressed interest in passing even stricter ones.
Advocates for Amendment 4 urged attendees at the St. Petersburg watch party to prepare for the next legislative session, where they intend to pressure lawmakers to expand abortion rights. They say 57% of people voting to approve the amendment should serve as “stark reminder” to elected officials that the six-week ban the state imposed “was not, is not and will not be the will” of their constituents.
“This is war, this is war one our reproductive freedoms. And not every battle lost is a war won,” said Sarah Parker, executive director of Voices of Florida, and a member of the “Yes on 4” campaign’s executive committee.
