Aisha Biyo of Clarksburg, Maryland, traveled with the group Catholics for Choice to protest outside of the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday, March 26, 2024, as justices heard oral arguments over access to mifepristone, one of two pharmaceuticals used in medication abortion. (Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
Catholics for Choice, a Washington, D.C.-based Catholic abortion-rights advocacy group, has commissioned a $26,000 radio ad buy on Orlando and Miami radio stations urging Hispanic voters to support Amendment 4, which would enshrine abortion rights in the Florida Constitution.
The ads feature Dr. Cecilia Grande, who has practiced obstetric medicine for more than three decades, who says that Florida’s six-week abortion ban “is in conflict with medical ethics and my conscience.”
“While this law claims to have exceptions, in practice, legal and administrative obstacles make it almost impossible for women to get the medical care they need,” Dr. Grande says in the 60-second spot.
Although the Roman Catholic Church states that abortion is wrong and shouldn’t be legal, about six in 10 Catholics say abortion should be legal, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in March and April of 2023.
Approximately 26% of abortion patients were Hispanic, according to the Guttmacher Institute’s 2022 Abortion Patient Survey, released in 2023.
“In an environment plagued with disinformation and misconceptions around faith and support for abortion access, Floridian Catholics who are pro-choice deserve to have their voices heard. While abortion is a morally complex issue, we know that 6 out of 10 Catholics support abortion access, and that 1 in 4 women who have abortions are Catholic themselves,” said Stephanie Hanson-Quintana, director of organizing for Catholics for Choice, in a written statement. “We want them to know they’re not alone in voting their conscience in support of reproductive freedom.”
The ads are playing on Actualidad Radio in Miami and iHeart Radio affiliates in Orlando.
A Mason-Dixon survey of 625 registered voters in Florida released Sunday for NBC6 and Telemundo 51 in Miami showed Amendment 4 getting 61% support, with 33% opposed and 6% undecided. The measure must secure 60% support to ass.
The poll was taken between Oct.1-4. A New York Times/Sienna Poll published last week showed the measure losing, getting just 46% of the vote, with 38% opposed and 16% saying they didn’t know or refusing to answer.