Amendment 4 aims to protect a woman's right to an abortion in Florida beyond the six-week abortion ban currently in place, and opponents argue most women don't yet know they're pregnant.
However, ads both for and against the amendment are dominating the airwaves, leaving many voters confused about how to vote.
The Republican Party of Florida is currently running a 60-second commercial that makes many claims about Amendment 4 and urges voters to vote against it.
Claim #1:
"Unlike other amendments, Amendment 4 has no definitions."
It's true there are no definitions in Amendment 4, but there are seldom definitions in constitutional amendments. They're not required as long as they're reviewed by the State Supreme Court for clarity, and the courts did that by approving Amendment 4, so we rate this claim misleading .
Claim #2:
"Without definition, these words could mean almost anything, enabling abortions at any time for almost any reason."
Here is the exact wording of Florida Amendment 4:
Ballot text: Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion 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 health care 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.
While it is brief, like most amendments, if passed, the courts will fill in the gaps.
Florida law is clear and already has definitions. For example, viability is defined as the point at which a child can survive on its own outside the womb.
Definitions in Florida law can be found here .
So, we rate the claim as " misleading ."
Claim #3
"Amendment 4 goes far beyond Roe v. Wade empowering abortion clinics to approve late-term abortions without doctors, even after science says the baby can feel pain."
Florida law in 390.012 Powers of agency ; Line 1 of law says, "The performance of pregnancy termination procedures only by a licensed physician."
Simply put, only a licensed doctor can perform an abortion, and that would not change.
And again, reading the language in the amendment, it doesn't suggest anyone but a doctor would perform an abortion.
Our meter rates this claim as false .
Claim #4:
"Amendment 4 even cuts parents out of the loop. Removing Florida's parental consent law and replacing it with notification. What looks like a safeguard is actually a loophole."
We rate this false. Because Article 10 Section 22 of Florida already requires parental notification.
Again, the amendment states parental notification won't be impacted.
Parental consent law is also required following a State Supreme Court ruling in April, and Amendment 4 does not change that.
390.01114 Parental Notice of and Consent for Abortion Act
The ad simply ignores the facts, which this article includes, and we rate the ad's claims as mostly false .
Another ad paid for by proponents of Amendment 4 urges people to vote in favor of the amendment.
It begins with confirmed Dr. Jerry Goodman, who specializes in Obstetrics & Gynecology and works in the Tampa area.
Claim #1:
"Because of Florida's extreme abortion ban, I also have to tell them I can't help. The ban forces women to wait until the brink of death to get care."
It’s true. Florida bans abortion after six weeks unless the health of the mother is at stake.
Claim #2:
"It could send doctors like me to prison just for treating my patience. That's terrifying and that is why I’m voting yes on 4. To end the ban so the government can't stop women from getting lifesaving care."
The first sentence is misleading; a doctor can't go to prison just for treating a patient. However, any doctor trying to perform an abortion after six weeks in Florida does face a third-degree felony, punishable by up to 5 years in prison.
After reviewing the entire 30-second ad, we're going to rate it as mostly true .