Faith and politics: Catholic groups spend to defeat Florida's abortion rights amendment

ORLANDO, Fla. — Catholic organizations are putting hundreds of thousands of dollars into fighting a Florida ballot initiative that would protect abortion rights, inserting the church into one of the most hotly contested and controversial issues in this year’s elections.

The Catholic Church has done the same in other states that have voted on abortion measures, and its influence could loom large as voters head to the polls in November with about one-in-five Floridians identifying as Catholic.

Catholic groups have donated about $234,000 to Florida Voters Against Extremism, a political action committee opposing the measure known as Amendment 4, and are urging their parishioners to reject the proposal. Their contributions are dwarfed, however, by the amount raised by supporters of the amendment, who want to overturn Florida’s current six-week ban on most abortions.

The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops, the church’s lobbying arm, is supporting the anti-abortion campaign, both financially and practically. It’s offered free political consulting services valued at nearly $108,000 to the campaign and used its website to share anti-abortion resources with parishes.

The Bishops have distributed cards that include a “prayer to defeat Florida’s abortion amendment.” In Orlando, the Cathedral of St. James’s July 14 bulletin featured the conference’s message in English and Spanish urging worshippers to vote no on Amendment 4 and calling it “dangerous” and “misleading.”

Catholics have rejected abortion since the church’s first century with the principle that “each and every human life has inherent dignity, and thus must be treated with the respect due to a human person,” according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

“Unborn children matter — and so do their mothers,” wrote Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenksi in a May column about Amendment 4.

But not all Catholics agree with the church’s position. Some say they don’t want their donations bankrolling an anti-abortion political campaign. Others question to what degree church and politics should mix.

“We have a real difference of opinion about how resources are being allocated and how parishioners themselves actually believe this public policy issue needs to be addressed,” said Gloria Romero Roses, a Miami resident and treasurer for Catholics for Choice, a national group established in 1973 to represent Catholics who support abortion rights.

Romero Roses said she’d prefer the church devote resources to affordable housing and helping migrants instead of trying to influence how the public votes on abortion rights.

About six-in-10 Catholics say abortion should generally be legal, according to the Pew Research Center. That includes 39% who say abortion should be legal in most cases and 22% who say in all cases. Only about one-in-10 Catholics think abortion should be illegal in all cases, reflecting the church’s position that “life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception,” according to Pew.

Romero Roses said her decision to break with the church leadership stemmed from the stories she heard from her mother who worked as a public health nurse in Colombia. She recalled her mother telling her how she witnessed botched abortions because of the nation’s laws at the time banning the procedure.

“I was taught that as Catholics, we believe that our conscience is the highest moral arbiter of decisions, and yes, sometimes that can go against established Catholic Church teaching, but we are called to listen to that conscience first and foremost,” she said.

Florida’s ballot initiative, Amendment 4, would protect abortion until fetal viability or “when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s health care provider.” The initiative does not define fetal viability, but it is usually considered to be about 24 weeks into a pregnancy.

If approved by at least 60% of voters in the Nov. 5 election, Amendment 4 would undo Florida’s six-week abortion ban that Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law last year.

As of July 12, the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops has given $25,000 to the committee opposing the abortion amendment. The Dioceses of Miami, St. Augustine and Pensacola-Tallahassee have chipped in another $209,037, campaign finance records show.

In total, the anti-abortion effort has raised nearly $1.4 million. GOP House Speaker Paul Renner’s political committee, Conservatives For Principled Leadership, is by far the top contributor, making up $1 million of the contributions.

Amendment 4’s supporters, Floridians Protecting Freedom, have raised nearly $39 million, far outpacing the amount raised so far by opponents.

Catholic donors have also poured money into abortion measures in other states, according to media reports. In Kansas, Catholic organizations spent nearly $3.5 million supporting an amendment to the state constitution that would remove the right to an abortion, a measure soundly defeated by voters. Ohio’s Catholic bishops spent $1.7 million against an abortion rights measure approved by voters, the Ohio Capital Journal reported.

Is it legal?

The Catholic Church’s political spending has raised questions for some: Is it legal for churches to give money for political causes and keep their tax-exempt status?

The answer is yes — if it doesn’t involve a direct candidate endorsement or “substantial” lobbying, said Darryll K. Jones, a law professor and tax expert at Florida A&M University.

Furthermore, the law isn’t clear as to what constitutes “substantial” lobbying, and the Internal Revenue Service has been reluctant to intervene, he said.

“They avoid these cases like the plague because they don’t want to have to deal with First Amendment and Religious Freedom Restoration Act issues,” Jones said. “They would probably lose on those issues.”

Church leaders argue the First Amendment’s rights guaranteeing freedom of speech and religion allow them to speak out on issues. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, passed by Congress in 1993, includes additional provisions that strengthen a church’s position in disputes with the federal government.

The Conference of Catholic Bishops has lobbied on other issues, such as abolishing the death penalty and expanding Florida’s school voucher programs.

The church’s involvement reflects longstanding beliefs about abortion and its concern that Florida’s proposed amendment is too extreme and imposes too few restrictions on the procedure, said Kathleen Bagg, a spokeswoman for the Diocese of St. Augustine.

“The Catholic Church has always been in the public square,” she said. “We’ll continue to speak out on issues we feel are important to people in the community and our faith community.”

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