Gov. Ron DeSantis signs the six-week abortion ban into law late at night on April 13, 2023. (Governor’s office)
Legendary reggae superstar Bob Marley warned us decades ago in his song, “Revolution,” to never trust a politician.
Marley was talking about people like Ron DeSantis, who has earned distrust throughout his tenure as Florida’s chief executive because of his misuse of his considerable power as governor and efforts to bend those who oppose him to his will.
DeSantis ally Attorney General Ashley Moody tried and failed to block efforts by supporters of abortion access and reproductive justice who gathered the necessary petition signatures for Floridians to decide whether to codify abortion rights in the Florida Constitution.
Florida election officials verified that Floridians Protecting Freedom had submitted 910,946 petitions, well above the 891,523 needed to add the measure to the ballot.
The Florida Supreme Court later approved the ballot measure, which gives voters in the Sunshine State the rare opportunity to take a direct hand in this crucial and life-changing issue.
Ten states have proposed constitutional amendments by which voters will directly decide whether to protect or expand abortions in November. They’re in swing states (Arizona and Nevada), blue-leaning states (Colorado, Maryland, and New York), and red-leaning or red-dominated states (Florida, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, and South Dakota)
Florida’s ballot initiative would bar state interference with abortion before fetal viability and would include exceptions past that point for “the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.”
Passage of the amendment would effectively undo the state’s six-week ban on abortion, which includes exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the patient. The measure must receive the support of 60% of voters in November, rather than a simple majority, to pass.
State agency
DeSantis is using state agencies and law enforcement to combat the referendum. State police are showing up at Florida voters’ homes to question them about signing the abortion petitions and the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) has launched a website targeting the initiative with politically charged language.
Fentrice Driskell via Florida House
Critics have castigated DeSantis for using these instruments to actively resist the ballot initiative and attempt to subvert the will of the people. By his actions, he may be violating a statute prohibiting the state “influencing” a person’s vote, as the Phoenix has reported.
Democrats are fighting back against DeSantis’ assertions and his claims to have found evidence of fraud. For example, Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried and two private citizens filed criminal complaints against the administration.
And a South Florida appellate attorney has asked the Florida Supreme Court to stop DeSantis, AHCA Secretary Jason Weida, and Moody from interfering in the voting on Amendment 4. The state’s highest court has agreed to expedite that case.
DeSantis is brazen in his efforts to game the system. He claims the Florida Department of State found one group that collected petitions on behalf of dead people. Other petition signatures did not match the voter files, he said.
“It just seems that if there were any fraud allegations, those would have been uncovered much sooner. I think what’s really happening is that these extremists are feeling like their backs are against the ropes,” said Florida House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell.
“They feel this is slipping away from them because the people of Florida want Amendment 4 to pass, and so now they’re just grasping at straws and throwing anything at the wall to see what will stick,” Driskell added.
‘Political theater’
State Rep. Anna Eskamani, an Orlando Democrat, describes the searches a “witch hunt” and “political theater by DeSantis and his cronies who are just so desperate to maintain Florida’s near total abortion ban that they were fishing for any type of information.”
Driskell said DeSantis is desperate following a string of high-profile failures, from his unsuccessful presidential run to the latest backlash over developing state parks.
Yet DeSantis’ command to four county elections supervisors to send 36,000 petitions from those counties to Tallahassee to be reviewed has alarmed critics who are angered by his falsehoods.
They fear he will find a way to invalidate the amendment effort even though county supervisor of elections’ offices — led by elected officials from both parties — approved the almost 1 million petitions for Amendment 4 that the Florida Department of State already verified.
Screenshot of Zoom call with FDP Chair Nikki Fried on June 26, 2024.
“Ron [DeSantis] has repeatedly used state power to interfere with a citizen-led process to get reproductive freedom on the ballot. This is their latest desperate attempt before Election Day,” Fried told reporters recently.
AHCA published a webpage filled with lies, misinformation, and criticism about the abortion amendment. Doing this, Democratic officials, activists, and other critics vigorously argue, could violate state laws against voter intimidation.
What’s clear is that DeSantis, Moody, and other state officials, who ostensibly work for Florida citizens, have abrogated their responsibility to the people. DeSantis’ actions fly in the face of what the majority of Floridians demand but it doesn’t matter to him. In their greed and pursuit of raw power, DeSantis and the others unabashedly represent a mere fraction of Florida’s populace.
‘The end of the pro-life movement’
Conservative theologian R. Albert Mohler Jr. explained in a recent post on his webpage what undergirds DeSantis’ virulent opposition to reproductive justice and abortion access. “The governor said, ‘If you care about building a culture of life in this state or this country, then winning in Florida I think really represents the end of the pro-life movement,’” Mohler writes.
In other words, Amendment 4 would eviscerate Republican and evangelical extremists’ mission to restrict all abortions, including 15-week and six-week bans, Mohler notes. He acknowledges the electoral beatings Republicans have taken, even in ruby red Kansas and South Dakota, over abortion.
“If this amendment passes, you really are looking at the end of the pro-life movement in Florida,” Mohler notes.
“But it’s a bigger question than Florida. I think this may have nationwide repercussions. You look at this amendment in a state like Florida, and if it passes, especially given the supermajority that is necessary there in Florida, you know, that’s going to indicate not only that we have been losing ground, it might indicate we’re losing the argument when it comes to American culture.”
Mohler may be loath to admit it, but Republicans have already lost this battle. Amendment 4, if passed, would become law and enshrine abortion rights into Florida’s Constitution. The procedure would become legal again until the fetus is viable, as determined by the patient’s health care provider.
It is gratifying to see that supporters of Amendment 4 haven’t been bowed by DeSantis’ bullying.
Lawsuits
On Sept. 12, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and Southern Legal Counsel filed a lawsuit in a Leon County Circuit Court on behalf of Floridians Protecting Freedom, calling the anti-Amendment 4 campaign the administration’s latest “dirty trick.”
Attorneys are asking the court to immediately halt the messaging, arguing that this constitutes the unlawful use of taxpayer funds by state officials in service of a political campaign. These actions, they add, are infringing on the rights of Florida voters.
Unconvincingly, DeSantis said at a news conference that the page is not political or electioneering but offers Floridians “factual information” about the amendment.
“I am glad they are doing it,” he said.
El Jefe DeSantis is an outlier in the abortion battle. Most Republicans, especially former President Donald Trump, have been running away from anything to do with reproductive justice as if they were set on fire. Trump — who with Mitch McConnell rammed Justices Cavanaugh, Gorsuch, and Coney Barrett onto the U.S. Supreme Court bench for the expressed purpose of overturning Roe v. Wade — are to blame.
So is DeSantis, the Republican legislative majority, and U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, who as governor shepherded a slew of abortion restrictions into law.
Tap dancing
The heat is rising, the fire is fierce, and Republicans are tap dancing furiously, ducking dodging and deflecting. Trump, who even now is proudly claiming credit for overturning Roe v. Wade, has tried unsuccessfully to distance himself from the abortion disaster. He refuses to say whether he will sign a national abortion ban if he wins in November.
Republicans’ lies and sleight-of-hand serve to show an aroused and deeply angry electorate in Florida exactly where DeSantis, Trump, and other extremist Republicans stand. Trump says the people wanted the issue returned to the states so they can decide.
In November, voters will have the opportunity to make it crystal clear to these political hacks where they stand on this crucial, life-altering issue. DeSantis and his cronies will be sorely disappointed.
Burn, baby, burn …