Abortion rights measure in Florida adds $293,000
TALLAHASSEE - A political committee leading efforts to pass a constitutional amendment on abortion rights raised $293,008 from June 22 through June 28 as it continues gearing up for an election battle.
The Floridians Protecting Freedom political committee had raised a total of $38.271 million since being formed in spring 2023, while spending about $22.729 million. Much of the spending went to collecting and verifying petition signatures to put the proposed amendment on the November ballot.
Floridians Protecting Freedom began the constitutional amendment drive after the Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis approved a law in 2023 to prevent women from having abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Legislature approved the six-week abortion limit after passing a 15-week limit in 2022. The state Supreme Court on April 1 rejected a constitutional challenge by abortion rights supporters to the 15-week limit.
That ruling also had the effect of allowing the six-week limit to take effect May 1.
The proposal will appear as Amendment 4 on the November ballot and says, in part, that 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."
It would need approval from 60% of voters to pass and has drawn opposition from DeSantis and other state Republican leaders. State candidates and political committees faced a Friday deadline for filing reports showing finance activity through June 28.