A ballot proposal that would have enshrined abortion rights in the Florida Constitution failed Tuesday, giving a major political victory to Gov. Ron DeSantis — and dealing a huge blow to abortion-rights supporters.
The measure, which appeared on the ballot as Amendment 4, received support from 57 percent of voters, short of the required 60 percent approval to pass.
The failure of the amendment ensures that a law largely preventing abortions after six weeks of pregnancy will remain in effect.
“The demise of pro-abortion Amendment 4 is a momentous victory for life in Florida and for our entire country,” SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a prepared statement. “Thanks to Gov. Ron DeSantis, when we wake up tomorrow, babies with beating hearts will still be protected in the free state of Florida.”
The proposal was spearheaded by the Floridians Protecting Freedom political committee. While the 57 percent support was short of the needed 60 percent, Lauren Brenzel, a spokeswoman for Floridians Protecting Freedom, said a “bipartisan group of voters today sent a clear message to the Florida Legislature” that it should end the six-week law.
“It is devastating that Amendment 4 has failed,” state Sen. Lori Berman, D-Boca Raton, said in a statement. “This was our opportunity to safeguard the right to choose, and now, Floridians will continue to face uncertainty and restrictions on their reproductive rights. The consequences will be most harmful to marginalized communities who already struggle to access care.”
DeSantis also helped successfully lead efforts to defeat another proposed amendment, Amendment 3, that would have allowed recreational use of marijuana in the state. DeSantis’ chief of staff, James Uthmeier, chaired two political committees that raised more than $30 million to help defeat the measures.
“We fought the good fight, we kept the faith, and we finished the race,” Uthmeier said in a post Tuesday night on X. “Thanks to @GovRonDeSantis and our great team for everything they sacrificed over the past months to protect our great state from amendments that sought to attack our families and way of life. To other states facing these challenges — you can win, but you must fight!”
In states across the country, abortion-rights battles have played out in ballot measures since the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 overturned the decades-old Roe v. Wade abortion decision. But unlike other states, Florida requires support from 60 percent of voters — rather than a simple majority — to pass constitutional amendments.
The Floridians Protecting Freedom committee began working to pass the constitutional amendment last year after DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Legislature approved the six-week law. That law took effect in May after a Florida Supreme Court ruling.
The proposed amendment said, in part, that 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 healthcare provider.”
Floridians Protecting Freedom raised $110.69 million in cash and received $7.94 million in in-kind contributions to get the measure on the ballot and to campaign for its passage. But DeSantis’ efforts to defeat the initiative included state agencies running controversial ads and taking other steps aimed at dissuading voters from supporting it.
As an example of the other steps, the state Department of Health sent threatening letters to broadcasters alleging that a Floridians Protecting Freedom television ad posed a public “health nuisance.” The political committee filed a lawsuit, and chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker issued a temporary restraining order blocking state officials from taking action against TV stations.
Supporters of the amendment argued, in part, that the state’s six-week law jeopardizes the lives and health of women who need abortions for medical reasons. But DeSantis and his allies tried to paint the amendment as extreme.
–Jim Saunders, News Service of Florida
Recreational Pot Proposal Falls Short
A $150 million-plus effort to allow recreational use of marijuana in Florida fizzled out Tuesday, falling short of the needed 60 percent voter approval and delivering a major victory for Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Trulieve, the state’s largest medical-marijuana operator, pumped nearly $144.6 million into the proposed constitutional amendment. The Quincy-based company’s contributions made up more than 94 percent of the overall total of $152.27 million in cash raised by the Smart & Safe Florida political committee that sponsored the measure, which appeared as Amendment 3 on the ballot.
The drive to authorize recreational weed came eight years after voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment allowing medical marijuana. More than 800,000 Florida patients are enrolled in the medical-marijuana program.
But this year’s proposed amendment faced unprecedented opposition from the state’s most powerful elected official — DeSantis — who launched a crusade to defeat Amendment 3 and another ballot measure, Amendment 4, aimed at enshrining abortion rights in the state Constitution. The abortion amendment also appeared to fall short of the required 60 percent voter support.
DeSantis blitzed the state and the airwaves blasting the pot and abortion amendments. His chief of staff, James Uthmeier, chaired two committees that raised more than $30 million to fight the two proposals.
“We fought the good fight, we kept the faith, and we finished the race. Thanks to @GovRonDeSantis and our great team for everything they sacrificed over the past months to protect our great state from amendments that sought to attack our families and way of life. To other states facing these challenges — you can win, but you must fight!” Uthmeier posted on the social media platform X around 8:30 p.m.
Amendment 3 would have given Trulieve and the state’s other medical-marijuana companies the ability to start selling euphoria-inducing cannabis products to anyone in Florida, including tourists, age 21 or older. With 156 retail locations throughout the state, Trulieve sells more than a third of all medical-marijuana products — including smokable marijuana — in the state.
DeSantis targeted contributions by Trulieve, which is publicly traded on the Canadian stock market, as he fought the proposed amendment. The governor argued that the proposal’s passage would cement the company’s “monopoly” on the cannabis market in Florida.
“I don’t think there’s ever been one company that’s put in this much money for one ballot measure in all of American history. And so the only way they can justify that is because this amendment is going to guarantee them a massive profit stream,” DeSantis said at a rally-style event last week.
As of about 9 p.m., the state Division of Elections website showed that nearly 56 percent of Florida voters supported the proposal — not enough to meet the 60 percent approval threshold.
“Tonight, a strong majority of Floridians voted in support of legalizing recreational marijuana for adults. While the results of Amendment 3 did not clear the 60 percent threshold, we are eager to work with the governor and legislative leaders who agree with us on decriminalizing recreational marijuana for adults, addressing public consumption, continuing our focus on child safety, and expanding access to safe marijuana through home grow,” the Smart & Safe Florida committee said in a statement.
Opponents of the proposal, however, cheered its demise.
“Even after spending over $150 million – the most in any drug legalization effort in American history – the people of Florida saw through Amendment 3’s web of deception and defeated this corporate power grab,” Jessica Spencer, director of advocacy for the Vote No on 3 Campaign, said in a statement.
Mark Wilson, president and CEO of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, called the proposal “bad for Florida and even worse for Floridians.”
“This pro-drug amendment was bad for our kids, bad for our communities, bad for our local business, and ultimately bad for Florida. The Florida Chamber was proud to stand with Governor DeSantis to unite community and business leaders across Florida to help ensure this amendment’s defeat,” Wilson said in a statement.
As he traveled throughout the state campaigning against the proposal, DeSantis repeatedly called out Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers, who shepherded the company into one of the nation’s largest cannabis sellers in less than a decade. Trulieve was one of Florida’s first licensed operators, after voters approved the 2016 constitutional amendment allowing medical marijuana. The company also operates in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
The governor flexed the full strength of his executive office to oppose the measure, tapping numerous state agency heads — including leaders of the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Department of Children and Families, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and the Department of Health — to join his effort to defeat the pot proposal.
State Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, as an example, recently released guidance warning about dangers of marijuana and advising health-care providers to regularly drug-screen patients ages 12 and older. The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, meanwhile, released public-service announcements warning against driving while under the influence of marijuana.
DeSantis also focused on what could have been a weakness in the proposal for people who might otherwise support decriminalizing marijuana: The measure did not include allowing people to grow their own marijuana.
“They do provide that you have basically an unfettered right to possess and smoke marijuana, but only if you buy it from them. They do not provide you with the right to grow your own product in your backyard,” DeSantis said at an event last week. “So they’re forcing business into this big weed cartel.”
–Dara Kam, News Service of Florida
Samuel L. Bronkowitz says
Yankee go home
KK says
Haha! So just to be clear – all Yankees? Including DJT?
Insightful. Educated here in Florida?
Al says
This was a financial blow to one big mouth lawyer that probably invested heavily into this company. When medical marijuana passed it was evident it was only the foot in the door. This injury lawyer complains about big trucks, imagine having a stoned driver going on the highway with 80,000 # behind you.
This will probably appear on the ballot in the next couple of elections so be prepared for more lies. The abortion ban will keep coming up because some women have no respect for life either.
There needs to be a 10 year ban on defeated amendments.
JC says
Just a FYI, Amendment 4 gotten 57% Yes vote. Saying that some women have no respect for life is not a good arrangement to have if you want to have people to join your cause. Also makes you seem that you know more than women.
Pro-Life cause need to do a better job with their messaging. Talking like this is just making people vote yes on Pro-Choice stuff in general.
Dont get raped says
Facts and truth don’t matter the republicans proved it. Orange Jesus is only out to save his own ass, you and yours are on your own. What will they dismantle first? America about to be a third world nation.
Alex says
In six months those that gave Trump the get out of jail free card will realize what a mistake they made and it is too late to change.
JimboXYZ says
Medical Marijuana from what I recall when it passed, the requirement to qualify for licensing, First they corporation had to be a plant nursery that had existed for 30 years, there was something like a $ 1/4 million application fee. At the time there were only 7 plant nurseries. I recall at least one of the seven plant nurseries getting their license and there was nothing stopping them from selling off the licensing rights, that plant nursery sold their licensing to a Canadian Corporation. Alachua County’s Chestnut Hill Tree Farm.
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article142897659.html
JC says
I know people who are Pro-Weed that voted No on 3 due to it doesn’t allow Home Grown, and they don’t 100% trust Trulieve, since they were gaining the most to gain if 3 passed. Furthermore, this was the talking points from both the local Dem and GOP parties here in Flagler.
On 4, I know people who are Moderate Pro-Choice locally who voted no due to the language on 4 was too much the other direction/vague. FL knows now that there’s a majority who want Abortion Rights, but if they want to hit 60% next time they will need to moderate the language. Needs to be clearly stated 12 weeks and nothing more than that and no “viability” language. This will get the Moderates to vote yes on it and also get a lot more GOP voters to vote yes on it, since some I know just don’t like the concept of elective abortion (that is separate from medical and exceptions) that is available above 12 weeks. FL wants abortion rights, but not in the way they have it in NY and CA.
While I voted yes on 4, I am glad it didn’t get 60%. I super hate the language on it, viability and health provider means different things to different people. With a conservative state supreme court here in FL you must be super black/white with the amendment language. I found 4 honestly to be a bad faith amendment since it would just cause more lawsuits in the state courts on what the amendment does if it had gotten 60% considering w
The real reason I’m glad it didn’t get 60% was there’s already a separate law about viability on the books. If 4 had pass with the viability, the FL House/Senate would just revise the current viability law to 6-weeks which DeSantis would sign it right off the bat. Then it would get sued and will go up to the state supreme court, which will side with the FL House/Senate since per our state constitution, the FL House/Senate have final say on what the law means. That means we would had gone back to square one.
If the ballot instead was done in black/white 12 weeks language for right for abortion without the government interference and nothing else, it would had gotten 60% yes and it would make it much harder for the FL House/Senate to screw around with it. Polling confirms that the majority of people want abortion rights up to the 12th week, and anything after that must be one of the exceptions.
I know some of the 4 supports hate the 60% rule and want to lower it down to 50%. But there was good reasons why voters back in 2006 voted almost 58% yes to it. Also considering the fact that the 60% rule also prevented terrible amendments from passing. With this election alone the 60% rule doomed Amendment 1 (not enough yes votes to 60%) and Amendment 6. FL is a red state now, and the FL House/Senate will continue sending amendments to the FL voters that will benefit the FL GOP, the 60% is not a policy to have to defeat some of the most terrible ideas coming from the elected officials.
JC says
Correction to my previous post, the 60% rule for amendments is a good policy to have to defat some of the most terrible ideas coming from the FL House/Senate. This has been the case for the last 10+ years since the FL House/Senate has been super red on policy.
rapscsllion says
trulieve has the worst customer service and products. and the parking lot is full of baseheads. thank god we have surterra.
individuals that have a mm card and live 30 miles from a dispensary can grow.
who in their right mind thought if 3 passed they could cultivate???
Pogo says
@United States Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, as an example
2025 is going to last a long time.
tulip says
The sentence that was written on amendment 4 strongly implied that minors could get an abortion without parental permission or notification. These parents were too lazy to look up the Fl law and to uninformed to realize that no doctor in his or her right mind is going to do a procedure on a minor child without parental or guardianship permission. That’s illegal most everywhere. Some people just believe what they want to believe . Now many young women and girls are going to pay the penalty for wanting or needing an abortion here in Florida. I wonder what desantis would do if his wife got raped and pregnant? Rest assured she would get what medical attention was needed. And you older women who voted no on the issue, I guess you gave no thought to the fact that your granddaughters, nieces, etc.,have now lost their freedom to choose. Very selfish
Just saying says
You can have an abortion in Florida. Right now it’s up to six weeks. There are abortions performed daily in Florida. You speak of an extreme case of rape or any other horrific situation a woman has to go through. Go to the hospital and have it taken care of immediately. No one is telling anyone that abortion is forbidden. I also agree that it should have been left alone at 12=14 weeks
tulip says
You mean go the hospital for help like one young woman did and the doctor told her that he couldn’t help her because it was a crime to perform an abortion and he could go to jail.
JC says
Personally six-weeks is too tight. Timeframe starts from date of last period per the Heartbeat bill. In theory it is a strict two-week ban. It should be left alone at 12-15 weeks.
Nephew Of Uncle Sam says
I now know all those GOP Voters will step right up and start adopting children and will stop going to the dispensaries for their medical fix. Along with having their taxes raised to build housing and care for all the thousands of babies to be born in Florida, guaranteeing them an education until graduation.
Nope is not going to happen.
We are doomed says
Republican fraud worked now we are ran by rapist and convicts , wait till ya get what ya voted for.
Unlistenable says
Maybe y’all should have ran that nag Hillary again, Michelle O? Kamala was terrible like nails on chalk board. It was worth voting against her just to never hear her Kackle again, or the circle speak of their KJP press secretary. Good Riddance!
Evil won says
Haha so you would rather hear a convict mubble bs every day and just make up lies. Makes sense.
T says
Hillary and emails russia right now trump buddies with putin ok brainwashed much and right wing don’t show all of him to you learn read if you can.
Jay Tomm says
Amendments are a backdoor to get laws on the books without due process. WAKE UP PEOPLE! No on any & all amendments!
You wan the laws changed, go through the legal goverment process. I agree if these are defeated there needs to be a period before it can be brought up again.
BillC says
Why is all the focus on women who get pregnant? WHAT ABOUT THE MEN WHO GET THEM PREGNANT? More than likely it’s the men who initiated the act. But no, put all the burden/blame/responsibility on the women.
RK says
GREAT COMMENT, MEN SHOULD USE PROTECTION AND STOP IMPREGNATING WOMEN, PERIOD.
HAVE SOOM RESPONSIBILITY GUYS.
Say what says
stop abortion at the source and require newborn boys to get a reversible vasectomy so when they make enough money they can undo it. Oh you don’t like messing with people’s bodies huh?
Yall support sex offenders? says
Ha they lock people up for a plant but we have a felon in charge. Rules for thee but not for me. Enjoy the dumpster fire called “republican leadership” . RIP America.