Care for the Culture of Life after Roe’s Reversal
Florida is a Sanctuary State for the Voiceless Unborn Child
Thanks to the evolution of increasingly sensitive urine-based pregnancy tests, women now have easy and economical access to take-home tests which can detect pregnancy as early as 8 days after ovulation.
By virtue of Florida’s Heartbeat Protection Act, women then have until the baby has a detectable heartbeat – 6 weeks from when they first become pregnant – to have an abortion or choose to give birth. In addition, the law makes exceptions in cases of rape, incest, human trafficking, fatal fetal abnormality, and to save the life of the mother.
The Heartbeat Protection Act was approved by 64% of Florida’s State Legislature, and on April 13, 2023, was signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis, who emphasized that in addition to expanding pro-life protections, the law “devotes resources to help young mothers and families.”
After receiving approval from the Supreme Court of Florida, the law took effect on May 1, 2024.
But now Florida’s Sanctuary is under attack from the well-funded forces of the nationwide abortion industry, in particular from Planned Parenthood. They’ve put an abortion-on-demand amendment to Florida’s Constitution on November’s ballot for a a yes or no vote by the people of Florida, and the language of that proposed amendment is very likely to deceive voters who haven’t been brought up to speed on exactly what that language does and does not mean. Here is what the proposed amendment says, along with the “Ballot Summary” supposedly explaining their amendment.
Proposed Amendment
“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.”
Ballot Summary
“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.”
As you can see, the Ballot Summary does not explain the meaning of the amendment’s language, which is VERY DECEPTIVE:
The amendment does not require an actual medical doctor to determine if an abortion is necessary to protect the mother’s health or if the fetus is viable but instead allows any “health care provider” to make these decisions. Under Florida law, “health care providers” are not limited to doctors so even employees of abortion clinics who are not doctors would be able to approve late-term abortions;
Unlike other proposed constitutional amendments, the text of this amendment does not define key terms like “health care provider”, “viability”, “patient’s health” or “government interference.” Without these definitions, it’s impossible for voters to know what the amendment will actually do, causing countless lawsuits and years of legal uncertainty; and
This amendment was cleverly worded to hide the fact that it would eliminate current laws and eliminate common sense safety regulations for abortions that most people on both sides of this issue support. For example, while the amendment allows for parental notification, it eliminates the current laws that require parental consent for their minor daughter to have an abortion, making this the only medical decision for which parents have no say.
For a graphic illustration of the DECEPTIVE and EXTREME nature of the amendment, visit TooExtremeforFL.com.
So what will this mean if the amendment is made a part of Florida’s Constitution?
It will mean that at ANY stage of her pregnancy, a woman could complain about her pregnancy causing her ANY “health” condition, including, for example, anxiety and emotional distress over the prospect of being unduly burdened by having to raise the child. Therefore, apart from “viability” being completely undefined by the proposed amendment and ballot summary, ANY definition of viability is completely over-ridden by the patient’s health exception, which has NO time limits;
It will mean that the validity and significance of a woman’s health complaint can be determined by ANY “healthcare provider.” Since Florida Law does not limit the definition of “healthcare providers” to doctors, the validity and significance of the woman’s health complaint could be determined, for example, by ANY employees of “healthcare (a/k/a abortion) providers” such as Planned Parenthood;
It will mean that medical safety regulations designed to protect the pregnant woman from harm could be IGNORED if they “prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict” the performance of the abortion. Under current health and safety regulations, Florida’ Agency for Health Care Administration initiated 31 administrative actions against Florida’s 52 abortion clinics in calendar year 2022 alone. Imagine what would happen if none of those regulations are in place and there’s nobody overseeing the clinics. Daniel, Katie – Florida Must Reject Stealth Abortion Radicalism, National Review, March 19, 2024. https://www.nationalreview.com/2024/03/floridians-must-reject-stealth-abortion-radicalism/ ; and
It will mean that parental “notification” laws in cases involving minors will remain in effect, but parental “consent” laws will be eliminated.
In short, if this EXTREME AMENDMENT is adopted, a 15 yr. old girl could obtain an abortion without her parents’ consent, and a woman could go to Planned Parenthood in the 9th month of her pregnancy and get a legal abortion on the grounds that she has a sudden case of high anxiety and severe emotional distress. This is essentially unrestricted abortion on demand, regardless of the fact that the unborn child is undoubtedly “viable,” that is, capable of surviving outside the womb, and capable of FEELING PAIN.
Thus, this amendment means THE END of any advancement in the Culture of Life for Florida, a Sanctuary State for the Voiceless Unborn Child.