2024 Florida Amendment 4

Florida Amendment 4 is a proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution that will be subject to a referendum on November 5, 2024. The amendment would establish a constitutional right to abortion before fetal viability (generally considered to be between 23 and 24 weeks gestational age). A 60% supermajority vote is required for the amendment to be approved.

Content
The ballot summary for the amendment 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."

If approved, the initiative would add the following text to Article I of the Florida Constitution: "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."

Legal challenges
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, a Republican, has opposed the ballot initiative since October 2023, when she asked the Florida Supreme Court to analyse the ballot initiative. In November 2023, Moody urged the Florida Supreme Court to block the ballot initiative, as she questioned the definition of "viability" and argued that the ballot initiative will "lay ticking time bombs that will enable abortion proponents later to argue that the amendment has a much broader meaning than voters would ever have thought".

The Florida Supreme Court in April 2024 approved Florida Amendment 4 to be placed on the ballot for voting in November 2024, because it adequately satisfied the requirements set. Despite Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody arguing that some of the language was deceptive, the Florida Supreme Court instead ruled that "it cannot be said that the ballot summary will mislead voters regarding the actual text of the proposed amendment." The Florida Supreme Court further stated that "the broad sweep of this proposed amendment is obvious in the language of the summary. Denying this requires a flight from reality", while ruling that there is "no basis for concluding that the proposed amendment is facially invalid under the United States Constitution."

Support and opposition
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in April 2024 criticized Florida Amendment 4 as "radical" and "very, very extreme". Florida State Senator Shevrin Jones supported the amendment, stating "Abortion IS healthcare, and every Floridian should be able to access the care they need without government interference."

Former President Donald Trump, who is a Florida resident and the presumptive Republican presidential nominee for the 2024 presidential election, has not indicated how he plans to vote on the amendment. He has spoken against a national abortion ban, and has criticized both the 6-week ban passed by the Florida legislature and abortions later in pregnancy.