In a significant pro-life victory in the Florida 2024 election, voters defeated Amendment 4, which would have permitted abortion up to birth under specific circumstances.

With 89% of the vote tabulated, Amendment 4 failed to secure the 60% needed to pass, getting just 57% of the vote.

The amendment faced strong opposition from pro-life groups, religious organizations, and a broad coalition of voters concerned about the potential expansion of late-term abortions.

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

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“The law that safeguards more than 50,000 lives annually will remain. Florida is a beacon to the places in this country which still allow abortion after the point a baby can feel pain and the model for how the pro-life movement will win future ballot measure fights. In a world where the abortion lobby has a hold of our major institutions, every Republican should take note of the leadership and courage that Ron DeSantis exhibited to expose Big Abortion’s agenda and defeat life-ending amendments.

“Thanks to Governor DeSantis voters were not deceived by the abortion industry’s scheme to profit from late-term abortions and eliminate common sense laws to protect the health and safety of women. DeSantis, GOP leaders, and the pro-life movement worked diligently so Floridians would not fall for George Soros’ attempt to strip parents of their rights and force taxpayers to fund abortion.

“Up against more than $110 million from the abortion lobby and an army of legacy media reporters going to bat for Amendment 4, DeSantis did not back down. He traveled across the state to make sure voters knew the measure would allow abortion at any point and take away parental consent. DeSantis’ Agency for Health Care Administration launched a public awareness campaign to protect women when the abortion industry ran ads lying about the ability to receive care for miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy in Florida. The governor rallied GOP officials throughout the state to stand for life and fundraised to expose the extreme implications of the amendment.”

The defeat signals a strong conservative stance in Florida on late-term abortions and ensures that the state’s heartbeat law will continue protecting babies from abortions.

“Amendment 4 was deceptively written to allow abortions throughout the entire pregnancy, even when the baby can feel the pain of the procedure, and to make abortion the only medical procedure that can be performed on a minor without a parent’s consent,” said Vote No On 4 Florida President Dr. Mary J. O’Sullivan, Professor Emeritus of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Miami Medical School. “By allowing any so-called ‘healthcare provider’ – not just doctors – to determine fetal viability and approve late-term abortions, Amendment 4 essentially gives abortion clinics a rubber stamp to approve abortions in the third trimester, up to and including the last month of pregnancy.”

The amendment would:

• require the state to pay for abortions with taxpayer dollars.
• increase abortions and decrease live births.
• decrease the population and thereby affecting school funding.
• eliminate parental consent laws.
• eliminate health and safety laws that require only licensed doctors to perform abortions.
• increase litigation that will cost taxpayer dollars to resolve legal uncertainties.
• significantly reduce the number of people being born thus reducing state growth and revenue over time.

Amendment 4 could also render the following Florida statutes as unconstitutional:

• Every law except for parental notification, including health and safety laws.
• The Parental Consent for Abortion Act, which requires physicians to obtain written consent from a parent before performing an abortion on a minor.
• The physician requirement, which allows only licensed physicians to perform abortions.
• Restrictions on taxpayer funding for abortions, which restricts the use of public funds to subsidize abortions, with exceptions for rape, incest, and medical necessity.

Amendment 4 was heavily bankrolled by out-of-state special interest groups, including the abortion industry and George Soros’ Open Society Fund, which support abortion at any time during pregnancy. Outrageously, Amendment 4’s primary funding organization once lobbied against a bill to require emergency medical treatment for babies born alive during an abortion procedure. Thankfully, that bill passed the Florida legislature unanimously, despite the lobbying efforts of Amendment 4’s lead financial and political backer.

The full text of Amendment 4 reads: “No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider. This amendment does not change the Legislature’s constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion.”

Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver had urged Florida residents, “Voters should understand that Amendment 4 will not only allow abortion up to birth for any reason, but will force Floridians to pay for abortion, and will place women at extreme risk by overriding every health and safety standard.”