A coalition of abortion rights advocates in Florida, including Planned Parenthood and the ACLU, is set to push a ballot measure that would impose late-term abortion onto the state’s constitution. The coalition has already filed necessary paperwork with the state and began collecting signatures and fundraising for the effort, with millions anticipated to be spent on the campaign.
After Roe was overturned, Florida enacted a 15-week protection of the unborn, and Governor Ron DeSantis subsequently signed a six-week protection, which will take effect if and when the Florida Supreme Court overturns a previous ruling that favored abortion. The advocates of abortion, in an attempt to circumvent the legislative process and emboldened by the apparent success their side achieved on ballot initiatives in 2022, are aiming for imposing their agenda on the Florida State Constitution via the ballot initiative process.
Under Florida’s laws for ballot initiatives, abortion rights supporters will need to gather approximately 890,000 signatures in order for the measure to appear on the ballot, which must come from signatories in at least half of the state’s congressional districts. Once it’s on the ballot, a measure must receive at least 60% approval from voters to pass, rather than a simple majority.
Some of these signature collectors are reportedly making up to $50 an hour. If enough valid signatures are collected by February 1, 2024, the issue will be put on the statewide ballot in the November 2024 election.
Of course, there will be even more turnout than usual being a presidential election cycle, so it is all the more important to alert your family and friends in Florida that this is happening, and encourage them not to sign the petition.
The exact text that the pro-aborts are attempting to place in the Florida State Constitution:
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.
To stop this effort from succeeding in Florida, we also ask you to spread the word about an Activism and Campaign Workshop, co-sponsored by Priests for Life and the Leadership Institute, that will help organize early efforts to defend the right to life against this abortion initiative. The event will be held at Nacion de Fe, 4555 West Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway in Kissimmee, Florida on Saturday, August 5 from 8:30am-4:30pm. Breakfast and lunch will be served.
Janet Morana, our Executive Director, and Pro-Life Leader Frank Pavone will be among the speakers at the event.
The workshop is free, and space and food are limited.
Please pass along this link to those you may know in Florida, so that they can register for this important event and spread the word to other Floridians.
https://www.LeadershipInstitute.org/KissimmeeCampaign (If you have any problems signing up at this link, you can register by emailing Erin at Vote@PriestsForLife.org or calling her at 321-500-1000.)
Summary of action steps you can take:
• Prayer, of course
• Decline to sign the petitions
• Encourage everyone you know in Florida not to sign the petitions
• Attend a training such as above, and implement the skills you learn in these trainings in peacefully disrupting the signature gathering process within the full scope of the law
• Help ensure your family and friends are registered to vote if they are not already
• Sign up at ProLifeVolunteer.com to stay in the loop on our election trainings and future trainings to help organize and educate our fellow citizens against this initiative