Tony Dungy in Clearwater on Oct. 29, 2024. (Screenshot/DeSantis Facebook)
Gov. Ron DeSantis resumed his statewide campaign against bringing recreational cannabis and abortion rights into the Florida Constitution on Tuesday, joined by former NFL coach Tony Dungy in Clearwater to make the case against Amendment 4.
That’s the proposed constitutional amendment that would repeal the state’s ban on most abortions after six weeks and restore it to the point of viability, generally considered to be around 24 weeks.
Using the power of his pulpit as well as tens of millions of taxpayer funds to advertise against the measure, DeSantis has made it clear that he will do everything in his power to bring down the two measures next week.
So, on Tuesday he joined members of the Florida Physicians Against Amendment 4 coalition to again denounce the abortion rights measure from Clearwater Central Catholic High School.
The governor took aim at some of the talking points made by the pro-Amendment 4 coalition, calling them “lies.” Specifically, that despite exceptions to the ban for victims of rape, incest, and human trafficking, and to protect the life of the patient, doctors are reluctant to provide emergency abortions for fear or criminal penalties or loss of licensure.
But he then went further and said, “Some of these physicians that are out there pallin’ around with the Amendment 4 people — if they do that in their practice they are committing malpractice in the state of Florida. They should lose their medical license in the state of Florida and, honestly, they should be sued to high heaven for medical malpractice.”
The crowd applauded. “It is ridiculous that you would inject things that are totally false,” DeSantis added.
Additional comments came from both a retired and a practicing OB/GYN as well as Florida Department of Children and Families Secretary Shevaun Harris and Florida Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Jason Weida.
‘Please know what you’re voting for’
And then there was Tony Dungy, the NFL Hall of Fame coach and NBC sportscaster and self-professed Christian. A Michigan native, Dungy began by criticizing a similar amendment on abortion rights passed by voters there in 2022. “You can go vote for or against it but please know what you’re voting for,” he said.
He added that he was “so upset” to hear people say that the measure needed to pass because people in Florida are now in danger if they get pregnant.
“No, they’re not in danger when they’re pregnant,” he said. “We have some of the best health care in the world here and it’s available. And it’s not going to be withheld if this amendment doesn’t pass.”
Dungy added that the issue was personal to him, because he believes that “these babies in the womb are lives,” before adding, “I know that not everybody believes that, but I happen to believe it. My Bible tells me that they are. And I know everybody doesn’t believe that but, for me, that’s what’s important.”
“We need to protect our women,” he said. “Yes, we need to protect our mothers. But we need to protect those children, as well.”
The event took place as new polls show Amendment 4 may not get to the 60% threshold required for it to become law. A Florida Atlantic University/Mainstreet Research USA survey released on Tuesday showed the measure getting 58% support, with 32% opposed and 10% undecided.