On Nov. 5, Floridian voters rejected Amendment 4, a pro-choice law that would have protected abortion in the state constitution, leaving the state’s current restriction – one of the strictest in the nation – unchanged.
Although the majority favored the amendment, approval rates fell short of the 60 percent threshold needed to pass, securing only 57 percent of the vote. This vote follows a legislative change on May 1, which reduced the period for legal abortions from 15 weeks to six.
“A lot of women don’t even know they’re pregnant until after 6 weeks, and by the time they start showing, it’ll be too late,” senior Valentina Daugherty said. “After they lowered the limit to 6 weeks, it’s like there’s nothing stopping them from lowering it again or even banning it in general.”
The current law includes limited exceptions for survivors of rape, incest or human trafficking, extending the threshold back up to 15 weeks, but only on the condition that victims must provide documentation such as a police report or medical records.
“Requiring documentation for something as sensitive as rape and incest is only going to make an already traumatic situation even more traumatic,” senior Sasha Valenzuela said.
Before, Florida was one of the few options left for those with stricter abortion bans in their home state. With over 9,300 people in 2023 alone coming in from neighboring states like Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, out-of-state patients used to account for 1 in 11 abortions in Florida, according to state data.
Governor Ron DeSantis addressed the influx of out-of-state patients in a 2023 CBS Interview, expressing great disapproval of this trend he called “abortion tourism.” He stated that when the six-week ban went through, his goal was to position Florida as one of the most pro-life states in the nation.
“The 24 weeks they were trying to do is way too long,” senior Angel Granados said. “The current law makes sense if the heartbeat of the baby starts at six weeks, anything after that is just murdering the fetus.”
Amendment 4 would have established abortion as a constitutional right in Florida until the fetus is viable if passed. The amendment has been controversial, sparking intense activism on both sides, with the “Yes on 4” campaign raising over $100 million.
Opposition groups, including DeSantis and his administration during his 2024 presidential campaign, also actively campaigned against Amendment 4, saying, “If you detect a heartbeat, that is life that deserves protection.”