Florida’s Governor thinks that if voters approve an amendment limiting governmental restrictions on abortion, it will be in the constitution permanently.
Gov. Ron DeSantis told a crowd in Tallahassee that if Amendment 4 is approved in November, it would never be reversed.
“This is putting something in the constitution forever. It will never be changed if this passes. You know, technically you could do another (constitutional amendment). The chance of that is 1 in a million,” DeSantis said at City Church Tallahassee.
The amendment needs at least 60% of the vote to pass, and it’s too close to call, according to recent polls. Some surveys say it’s on track to pass. Others say the initiative needs help.
Polling from the Florida Atlantic University Political Communication and Public Opinion Research Lab (PolCom Lab) says the abortion amendment, which would effectively roll back restrictions on the procedure enacted in recent years, is at 56% support.
Polling from Emerson College released this week shows the amendment at 55% support with 26% opposition.
A July poll from University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab said Amendment 4’s support was higher, at 69% of the vote.
Florida’s Heartbeat Protection Act, approved in 2023, restricts termination of pregnancy after the sixth week except in cases of rape, incest or danger to the mother. That replaces a measure lawmakers passed just one year earlier, immediately before the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, that barred the procedure after the 15th week of pregnancy.
But the ban could be short-lived.
“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,” the amendment stipulates.
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Gabrielle Russon of Florida Politics contributed to this report.
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