“The Right to Life is not given to us by a popular vote. Nor can it be taken by one,” says Faith2Action President Janet Porter. She’s absolutely right.

Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Planned Parenthood has been working overtime to salvage its baby-killing business empire. Abortion proponents are working state by state to try to codify unlimited abortion into the state constitutions.

Throughout this past year, a Planned Parenthood-backed initiative called “Floridians Protecting Freedom, Inc.” (FPFI) claims it has gathered enough signatures to place an abortion amendment on the state’s November ballot.

The proposed ballot summary AND the amendment, called “Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion,” uses deceptive language to trick Floridians into voting to prevent ANY state or local regulation of abortion. Such deceptive actions are unlawful under Florida law.

The proponents say the amendment would not change the 15-week abortion ban or parental notification, but that’s a lie.

The ballot summary states: “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.”

But the ballot summary that will be seen by voters does not match or correctly reflect the actual language of the amendment itself.

The actual amendment that would go into effect states, “Limiting government interference with abortion. — Except as provided in Article X, Section 22, 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 actual language says NOTHING about parental consent. In fact, even parental consent laws will be overturned because they will “restrict” or “delay” an abortion. This is a purposeful attempt to obfuscate the true intent — overturning ALL abortion regulations and permitting abortion up until birth.

In legal terms, if this amendment proposal is not stopped, any parental notification laws would be considered a prohibited “delay” of an abortion. The same applies to the state’s 15-week abortion ban.

Worse yet, barbaric partial birth abortions — long banned by the federal government — would be ignored under the amendment’s rejection of any law that would “prohibit” abortion.

Furthermore, the amendment’s language regarding “patient health” as determined by a “healthcare provider” is never clearly defined. As long as any “healthcare provider” (which is not limited to a medical doctor) says that an abortion is “necessary” for the woman’s “health” (which includes everything), the abortion is permissible AT ANY TIME UP TO BIRTH.

I will present oral argument before the Florida Supreme Court at 9 a.m. ET on Wednesday, February 7, 2024.

Liberty Counsel represents Florida Voters Against Extremism (FLVAE), for which we filed a petition with the Florida Supreme Court, arguing that the proposed amendment violates the requirement for voter initiatives. This is misleading and deceptive and violates the single subject rule.

Taking it to the states!

Liberty Counsel is taking our fight for the unborn to the states! Beginning with our Florida Supreme Court case, Liberty Counsel is preparing to fight Planned Parenthood and its death-dealing allies everywhere they attempt to place abortion on the ballot or wherever they seek to challenge existing abortion laws.

By working through the courts, with state and local legislators, and with local on-the-ground activists, we intend to defeat Planned Parenthood’s Jezebel-like child sacrifice at every turn.

Liberty Counsel played a major part in overturning Roe v. Wade when our powerful brief was cited in the Dobbs decision that ended 50 years of abortion at the Supreme Court. In fact, we won all seven of the U.S. Supreme Court cases we argued or briefed in the last three years alone. Now we are going state to state, fighting to protect the lives of the unborn.

Mat Staver
Founder and Chairman
Liberty Counsel

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Sources:

“FL Supreme Court Will Hear Abortion Initiative Argument.” Liberty Counsel, January 3, 2024. LC.org/newsroom/details/010324-fl-supreme-court-will-hear-abortion-initiative-argument.

H.R. 15. Equality Act. (2023, June). 118th Congress (2023-2024 Session). Congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/15.‌