Gov. Ron DeSantis giving his all to defeat Amendment 4 and fight against abortion access in Florida

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis stood at a podium in Coral Gables on Monday before television cameras and media outlets to hammer home the message that residents should vote no on Amendment 4 abortion access.

With two weeks to go before the election, DeSantis has become the high-profile weapon anti-abortion advocates are increasingly relying on to keep Florida’s six-week abortion ban in place, and in recent weeks, he has made it clear he will use every tool possible to defeat the proposed constitutional amendment.

At the podium Monday, DeSantis used the political language he has relied on throughout his term, turning Amendment 4 into a liberal vs. conservative battle.

“I have never seen anything like this Amendment 4 where you have massive amounts of money coming in from out of state, massive left-wing groups, all the major organs of the far left all involved including George Soros, all involved in this amendment, and yet they don’t say anything about what’s actually in their amendment,” DeSantis said. “They spend the entire millions and millions of dollars telling verifiable lies about the policies and laws of the state of Florida.”

Since summer, pro-life organizations announced they would go all in after Labor Day to fight Amendment 4, and rely on the governor and his influence to help turn voters their way.

“We will be running a full statewide campaign and are confident that leadership from the governor will make a huge difference in defeating the amendment,” Caitlin Connors said in June on the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v Wade, which guaranteed a federal right to access abortion legally. Connors is the Southern Regional Director for SBA Pro-Life America.

Amendment 4 to Limit Government Interference with Abortion will be put before voters in Florida at the Nov. 5 election. The amendment says: 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.

If approved by 60% of voters, it would replace Florida’s six-week abortion ban now in effect.

The governor and the state agencies he oversees have taken numerous actions to defeat the amendment:

•Crafted a financial impact statement that will run alongside the proposed amendment on the ballot and raise the issue over whether the state will have to subsidize abortions with public funds.

•A Florida state-funded healthcare regulatory agency (the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration) launched a “Florida is Protecting Life” website that states Amendment 4 “Threatens Women’s Safety.”

•The state’s health department sent a letter to TV stations to stop airing a commercial earlier this month, asserting that it was false and dangerous and that keeping it on the airwaves could result in criminal proceedings. On Monday, The Miami Herald reported that the governor’s top deputies directed a Florida Health Department lawyer to threaten the television stations.

•The DeSantis administration also alleged “widespread fraud” in the abortion petition drive and sought to strike Amendment 4 from the ballot — or nullify any election results.

Proponents of Amendment 4 have challenged the state’s actions in the courts. On Friday, a federal judge rebuked the DeSantis administration for threatening television stations with criminal charges if they didn’t stop showing ads favoring an abortion rights measure, which the judge said was protected under the First Amendment.

For DeSantis, the stakes are high. He signed Florida’s six-week abortion ban last year, which would be undone by Amendment 4 and allow abortion up until viability. That had been the timeframe in place before Florida lawmakers passed restrictions.

Surrounded by religious leaders, pro-life proponents, and doctors from the Miami area, DeSantis said the amendment would be radically progressive.

“You got to know exactly what they are trying to do here to the state,” he said. “It would make Florida one of the most radical abortion jurisdictions, not just in the United States but anywhere in the world if this were to pass.”

Florida is one of 10 states with constitutional amendments on the ballot that would guarantee access to abortion and restore the standard set by Roe v. Wade before the U.S. Supreme Court struck it down two years ago. Some women in Florida who are more than six weeks pregnant have been traveling to other states for abortion care.

At the news conference on Monday, doctors who oppose Amendment 4 said they believe the amendment’s language is “too vague,” echoing DeSantis’s claims.

“This governor is never shy to take on a fight,” Florida’s Lt. Gov Jennante Nunuz said at the news conference on Monday. “This one is one we cannot lose, and we will not lose.”

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