What's next in Florida's battle over abortion

[In It to Win It]

The Hill

Supporters of Florida’s Amendment 4, which would have enshrined abortion rights in the state, react after the amendment’s defeat, during a watch party for the Yes On 4 campaign, on Nov. 5, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. Rebecca Blackwell, Associated Press


Florida’s abortion rights groups are taking stock after a narrow loss in last week’s ballot referendum but say the fight to overturn the state’s six-week abortion ban isn’t over.

Florida became the first state to reject an abortion rights amendment since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, leaving Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R-Fla.) six-week ban in place. Although the amendment, which sought to protect abortion access to the point of fetal viability, was approved by 57 percent of voters, it fell short of passing due to Florida’s supermajority threshold, which requires any amendment to have a 60 percent approval rating.

This requirement paired with unprecedented involvement from the DeSantis administration presented a unique set of challenges to pass the amendment. People on both sides of the debate say the uphill battle to enshrine abortion protections in solid red Florida’s constitution will persist.

“Republicans can’t get cocky,” Florida Republican strategist Ford O’Connell said. “I think [the amendment is] going to be tried again in the state of Florida, and Republicans have to be ready to knock them down.”

Natasha Sutherland, senior adviser to the official “Yes on 4” movement, told The Hill that the push for increased abortion protections “isn’t done,” but she is unsure there’s an “appetite” for another effort in 2026.

[J_William_Ryan]

1. What's next?

What’s next is women in Florida will continue to needlessly suffer – their health and lives remain in jeopardy.

The same is true of women in other authoritarian red states.

[Jose Garcia]

2. The ban on requiring parental consent probably cost it a ton of votes

[In It to Win It]

3. In hindsight, I kind of agree

I completely understand why they phrased the amendment the way they did. The right did extend minors before. Generally, parental consent doesn’t override a constitutional right. I also get circumstances where parents may be the abusers.

But… at 57%, it’s close but a few people need to swing. Getting that 3% to swing might require having the amendment only applicable to legal adults and not to minors. Get what we can now, and fight for better afterwards.