Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday hosted a "Doctors Against Amendment 4" press conference where he blasted the "deceptive" pro-abortion measure, urged Floridians to vote no, and had a Catholic archbishop deliver a closing prayer asking God to instill in people a willingness to "sustain" human life.
While Gov. DeSantis' strong criticisms of the Amendment, which would overturn his six-week abortion ban, are nothing new, this is the first time he's hosted a press conference solely to trash the referendum among a pack of pro-life doctors.
"This is a very intentionally deceptive and vague amendment that's written to basically deceive as many voters as possible so they can somehow get this thing over the finish line," said DeSantis as he blasted the group behind the measure, Floridians Protecting Freedom (FPF).
He fears that if the measure passes, it will essentially be a "Pandora's box for bad policies." He pointed out that the initiative's language uses terms like "healthcare provider" instead of "doctor," and while it says it won't change Florida law requiring parents to be notified their child is seeking an abortion, it does not say anything about parental consent.
"What they're doing in the amendment is substituting notification, but that is not consent," he said, alleging that Amendment 4 eliminates parental consent. "Don't be deceived by this bait and switch."
Hosted in Coral Gables, DeSantis' event is on the first day of early voting for Miami-Dade County residents.
Four Miami doctors who spoke at the event echoed these concerns, including radiologist Dr. Steven Christie, a DeSantis appointee to the Board of Medicine. To close the conference, Catholic Archbishop Thomas Wenski prayed that God renews in Floridians a "readiness to nurture and sustain your precious gift of human life."
Executive Director of the Florida Women's Freedom Coalition Anna Hochkammer slammed the Governor's parental consent allegations, a common attack from Amendment 4 detractors. She told The Floridian that what truly "strips away" parental consent is the six-week abortion ban.
"If a parent wants to help their child (who has by definition in Florida been impregnated without her consent, because the age of consent in Florida is 18) to seek abortion care, they are banned from doing so. Amendment 4 does nothing to change constitutional parental notification or the ability of the Florida legislature to enact parental consent laws," she said.
"There is no question abortion care can require nuanced decisions. The question before Florida is, who is going to decide - the patient with her doctor and family, or extremist politicians?" Hochkammer added.
Amendment 4, which enshrines abortion access until around 24 weeks in the state constitution, has been the subject of a slew of litigation, beginning with the Governor asking the state Supreme Court to keep it off the ballot because of the allegedly "vague" language. The Court disagreed.
Since then, there have been at least nine other legal cases or threats of litigation involving the measure. One of the more recent cases involves the state Health Department sending a series of cease-and-desist letters to TV stations airing a pro-Amendment 4 ad that the agency argued was "false" and "dangerous."
After sending the letters, however, General Counsel John Wilson suddenly resigned because "A man is nothing without his conscience," and because the Governor's Office had allegedly pre-written various letters and asked him to put his name on them, the Miami Herald reported.
DeSantis referred to these "false" ads on Monday, accusing FPF of spending millions of dollars to tell "verifiable lies" about Florida policy. FPF, who sued Wilson and Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo over a First Amendment infringement, convinced a Leon County Circuit Judge to temporarily ban the state from sending any further letters.
Amendment 4 will go to voters on Nov. 5. If it passes with 60% of approval, it will become part of the state constitution.
