'People like me': Abortion rights advocates share stories, urge support for Amendment 4

ORLANDO, Fla. — In 2020, Danielle Tallafuss was more than 20 weeks pregnant when her doctor told her the left side of her son’s heart would never fully develop.

Without a series of risky open-heart surgeries, the baby would die within days after birth and, even with the surgeries, his prognosis was poor.

Tallafuss and her husband then made the difficult decision to terminate the pregnancy.

“I took away every day of pain that he would’ve felt,” Tallafuss said. “I had the opportunity to do that for my son before he was born.”

Had she been pregnant today, the Oviedo woman said she would have been forced to carry the baby to term because of a state law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis last year that bans most abortions after the first six weeks of pregnancy.

Tallafuss shared her story Thursday at an event hosted by Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, and held to showcase support for Amendment 4, the abortion rights ballot measure. The amendment would end what Eskamani called “Florida’s near total abortion ban.”

Tallafuss was joined by other women as well as doctors and lawyers who support the amendment, which Floridians who headed to polls early began voting on this week.

If approved by at least 60% of voters, Amendment 4 would protect abortion access until viability, usually about 24 weeks into pregnancy, or when deemed medically necessary by a woman’s health care provider. It would restore abortion time frames to those previously in place in Florida.

DeSantis and other abortion foes are pushing hard against the measure. The governor this week was on a statewide tour with anti-abortion doctors, visiting churches, including one in Winter Garden, to urge residents to vote against the ballot initiative.

“It is too extreme, too radical and simply goes too far,” said Dr. Tamberly McCarus, a Florida OB-GYN supporting DeSantis.

Florida’s six-week ban, the opponents of Amendment 4 argue, includes exceptions to save the life of the mother or if a “fatal fetal abnormality is detected.” It also allows exceptions for rape and incest up to 15 weeks of pregnancy if a woman shows proof, such as a police report.

But backers of Amendment 4 have slammed DeSantis’ events calling them a “propaganda tour” that they say ignores the reality of Florida’s current abortion requirements.

Tallafuss, 37, said if she was pregnant now with a baby with the same serious condition, she’d likely have to watch her baby die prematurely, even if she and her husband opted for surgeries.

“I have to remind people in my community constantly that when you start saying abortions need to be banned, you’re saying that to people like me, people who wanted their child,” Tallafuss said through tears. “I had his name picked out. His name was Nathaniel.”

Dr. Allison Bardley-Amore, an OB-GYN in Central Florida, said on a busy day in her clinic she will perform abortions on at least one or two patients who tell her, “I never thought I’d be here. I’ve demonstrated outside clinics. I always thought this was a black and white issue until it was me.”

People often assume abortions are a result of a woman simply not wanting to have a baby, Bardley-Amore said, but often there are other factors. Sometimes the woman is ill and a pregnancy threatens her life, she added, the baby has a condition that will severely impact the quality and length of its life, or the pregnancy was a result of rape or incest.

That is why, Eskamani said, it is important for voters to hear stories from people like Tallafuss, and the doctors who help patients navigate through these difficult circumstances.

“For me, it’s about lifting up those everyday experiences and voices and not from a partisan lens, so voters can clearly understand what’s at stake and just how unique every pregnancy is” Eskamani said.

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