Amendment 4 Fact Sheet — Why to Vote No!

Ballot Title: Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion

Ballot Summary: 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.

Why Floridians Should Vote NO on Amendment 4

Amendment 4 would enshrine UNREGULATED ABORTION in our state constitution, making Florida one of the MOST PRO-ABORTION states in the nation. The amendment language is MISLEADING, and its proposed outcomes are DANGEROUS.

• PUTS WOMEN AT RISK: Amendment 4 would jeopardize existing laws and prohibit new ones that voters on both sides of the abortion issue support, including health and safety laws that protect women.
• ALLOWS SECOND AND THIRD TRIMESTER ABORTIONS: Though not defined in the amendment, “viability” is defined in Florida law as the stage of development when the life of a fetus is sustainable outside the womb (Ch. 390.011(15)), generally accepted to be 22-24 weeks of pregnancy, or about 6 months.
• CREATES A BROAD “HEALTH” LOOPHOLE: “Patient’s health” is not defined in the amendment, allowing post-viability, extremely late-term abortions for treatable, temporary health concerns. Emotional health would justify an abortion when a child could survive outside the womb.
• WEAKENS MEDICAL DOCTOR REQUIREMENT: “Healthcare providers” – not just physicians – could determine if an abortion is “necessary” to protect the mother’s “health.” Even some employees of abortion clinics, such as nurses and counselors, could approve late-term abortions.
• ELIMINATES PARENTAL CONSENT: While preserving parental notification in our state constitution (Article X, Section 22), the amendment would invalidate the current law that requires parental consent for a minor to have an abortion (Ch. 390.01114(5)), making abortion the only medical decision for which parents have no say.

To learn more about Amendment 4 and find additional resources visit miamiarch.org and https://flaccb.org/abortion-amendment.