JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Taxpayer-funded abortion, no parental consent, and unlicensed abortion doctors: Those are all possible outcomes if voters approve Amendment 4, at least according to a proposed financial impact statement that would appear alongside the measure on the ballot.
The language suggests the passage of the amendment could invalidate state law requiring parental consent for minors seeking abortions, subsidize abortions with taxpayer dollars, and allow unlicensed physicians to perform the procedures.
Additionally, it suggests lower birth rates could reduce tax revenues, and potential litigation costs could also draw on state funds.
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Typically, financial impact statements are brief and tell voters how a proposed constitutional amendment might impact state or local revenues.
However, supporters of Amendment 4, which would restore abortion access in Florida, argue the one approved by state economists this week reads like an opposition campaign ad.
“This is a way of the government intervening,” Amber Gavin with A Woman’s Choice Clinic in Jacksonville said.
Gavin explained state economists were initially tasked with rewriting the original financial impact statement, which hadn’t been updated to reflect the state’s six-week ban taking effect.
Instead, she argued they chose to politicize the process by including false and misleading information.
“And so, it’s really important that people, voters are not distracted by this and are instead looking at that actual amendment itself, which is clear and accurate and transparent,” Gavin said.
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Andrew Shrivell with Florida Voice for the Unborn argued the possibilities laid out in the financial impact statement are real, and voters deserve to have all the information.
“What the amendment’s impact would be, not only on Florida’s long-term revenue but on that state’s regulatory scheme dealing with abortion itself,” Shirvell said.
UNF Political Science Professor Dr. Michael Binder called the financial impact statement unprecedented.
He added if it makes it on the ballot, it could damage the amendment’s chances of passing, given it needs 60 percent support to clear the finish line.
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“If you have the ability to put campaign messaging next to where the vote occurs, it’s obviously going to help you,” Binder said. “Now, is it gonna move voters 20 points? No, but in an amendment like this where, if it were going to pass, it was going to be exceptionally close anyway, a half a percentage point, a percentage point, anything you can do if you’re opposed to this amendment, whether or not it’s legal or ethical is a different question, but certainly it could impact a few voters on the margins and could maybe make them think twice about this.”
The revised financial impact statement has already been challenged by the Amendment 4 campaign in a state appellate court.
But time is running out for a resolution, with ballots for the November election having to be finalized in just six weeks.
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