Florida Voters Fail to Enshrine Abortion Access in 2024 Election

Florida voters failed to enshrined abortion access on Tuesday in a 2024 election ballot measure called Amendment 4.

Abortion rights have been a major issue in the 2022 midterm election and this year’s election after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in the summer of 2022, which ended the U.S. constitutional right to abortion and left the issue up to the states.

While a majority of Florida voters wanted to protect abortion by way of the constitutional amendment, the measure needed 60 percent of votes to pass. At the time the Associated Press called the race, only 57 percent of people voted in favor of it.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, opposed the measure, saying at a press conference in Jacksonville in October that Amendment 4 is “making a radical change” to state law.

He said the language in Amendment 4 is too broad, pointing to the measure’s lack of definition for the term “viability” when talking about fetuses.

Meanwhile, Florida Women’s Freedom Coalition, a group that supports the ballot measure, said on its website that Florida politicians have “denied Floridians the right to control their own bodies and lives,” citing the state’s six-week abortion ban “with very limited and cumbersome provisions or exceptions.”

Promoting Amendment 4, the group said that “together, we can put these important decisions back in the hands of Florida families and their doctors, not politicians.”

By How Much Did the Abortion Measure Fail?

At least 60 percent of voters in the country’s third most populous state needed to approve the amendment for it to be included in Florida’s state constitution. At the time the race was called, only 57 percent of voters voted in favor of it.

What Was Abortion Access Like in Florida?

After Roe v. Wade was overturned, many conservative states put abortion bans into effect. Florida is one of over two dozen states that have banned abortion in some way.

Under Florida’s ban, which took effect in May, it is illegal to perform or get an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, which is when many people do not even know they are pregnant yet, according to Planned Parenthood.

There are exceptions for rape, incest and human trafficking up to 15 weeks. Abortions are also allowed if it would save the life of the pregnant patient or prevent “substantial and irreversible” physical impairment.

What Was Amendment 4?

Amendment 4 made abortion legal up until the patient’s health care provider determines the fetus is viable—which is generally considered to be around 20 to 25 weeks, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)—or when the patient’s health is at risk.

The exact text of the measure stated: “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.”

The amendment does not change the Florida legislature’s constitutional authority to require a parent or guardian to be notified before a minor has an abortion.