With election day about two months away, Floridians will have to decide not only who they will choose to occupy the White House, but also the legality of abortion in the Sunshine State. The measure in question to decide this issue in the state is Amendment 4. The Vote No on 4 Campaign has released a scathing press release detailing the contents of the Yes on 4 Campaign’s website and the links appearing on it.
The website floridiansprotectingfreedom.com includes resources for women less than six weeks pregnant and more than six weeks pregnant (which is the current legal cut-off in the state). The site also has resources for those who “cannot involve a parent” and gives them assistance to “learn about getting a judicial bypass to access care” without parent help, which is also required for minors in Florida.
The website also directs women to use a chatbot named “Charley.” This chatbot claims that “abortion is medically safe no matter how far along someone is in their pregnancy.” It also urges women to “travel outside the United States if you have a passport and can afford to do so” in addition to traveling to another state.”
Finally, the chatbot says “Medical providers say it is usually safe to have your abortion at home after taking pills, even if you have not seen a doctor or nurse first.”
The Vote No on 4 Campaign described all of this information as “misleading” and “dangerous” advice to both minors and legal adults.
“The extremists who crafted Amendment 4 intentionally used deceptive and vague language to mislead Floridians about the real impacts of the amendment. Voters deserve the truth: Amendment 4 would remove parental consent, allow people who are not licensed doctors to approve and perform abortions, and turn our state into a destination for late-term elective abortion,” the Vote No on 4 Campaign wrote.
The No Campaign continued, “The campaign website directs to links that encourage and help minors to seek abortions without talking to their parents or even seeing a doctor … Amendment 4 would make this the new normal. By rewriting Florida’s constitution to remove parental consent and allow people who aren’t medical doctors to perform abortions, Amendment 4 goes far beyond “pro-choice.”
The amendment reads as follows:
“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.”
Floridians will need a 60% vote to enshrine this amendment into the state constitution.
