Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and allies in his administration have undertaken a robust effort to build opposition to an amendment on the November ballot that would enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution and undo a pinnacle piece of legislation he signed into law.
In recent weeks, one state agency launched a website attacking the ballot measure, another state agency threatened local television stations that had run an ad supporting it, and an election police unit created by DeSantis started investigating claims of fraud in the signature-gathering process for it months after it was approved for the ballot.
After a challenging year in which DeSantis’ presidential campaign flamed out and several school board candidates he backed lost primaries, Democrats and Republicans in the state see the heavy-handed moves as part of an effort by DeSantis, once a rising star in the GOP, to re-exert his political authority in the state and nationally.
“There is little doubt the governor has political skin in the game here. He got a boost politically after his hurricane response, but his standing politically is not what it once was after his loss on the national level and a less-than-ideal primary for candidates he backed,” said a veteran Florida Republican who previously worked for DeSantis, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “If he loses on the amendments, it will be another big blow. I don’t think it, like, ends his political career or anything, but it’s a continuation of a string of political losses for someone who for years did not have many.”
DeSantis’ critics go even further, arguing that using government resources to wade into a political fight is unethical and illegal.
“To blatantly just use state taxpayer money resources to go ahead and basically run a political campaign against the measure … is just absolute nonsense,” said Democratic state Sen. Jason Pizzo, a frequent critic of DeSantis. “He’s running investigations and reports on the truth and veracity and validity of some of these petitions, which looks to compromise the integrity of the process.”
Lauren Brenzel, the campaign director for Floridians Protecting Freedom, the group leading the push to pass the ballot measure, said: “To see our state spend millions of dollars in taxpayer resources on silencing women who are sharing their stories — it really speaks to just how out of touch these politicians are about this issue.”
The measure, listed on the ballot as Amendment 4, would bar restrictions on abortion before fetal viability, and it would include exceptions past that point for “the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.” It would effectively undo the state’s six-week ban on abortion — which includes exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the woman — which DeSantis signed into law last year.
Last month, a state-run health care agency launched a website that shares information that proponents of the ballot measure say is misleading.
The “Florida is Protecting Life” website, put up by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, claims that Amendment 4 “threatens women’s safety” and “threatens to expose women and children to health risks.” The government website also says “Don’t let the fearmongers lie to you” about Amendment 4.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, one of the groups behind the proposed amendment, sued last month to halt the website, but a state judge rejected the claim.
The DeSantis administration has also ramped up efforts to investigate allegations of fraud in the signature-gathering process by the groups behind the measure.
Last month, The Washington Post and The Associated Press reported, DeSantis’ election police unit began investigating allegations of fraud in the signature-gathering process that organizers undertook as part of their effort to place the measure on the ballot.
And last week, the state secretary of state’s office issued a lengthy report alleging that the committee behind the amendment paid signature gatherers from outside the state and accused them of submitting forged signatures and signatures of deceased voters. Floridians Protecting Freedom has denied those allegations.
The investigation and the report apply to signatures state officials had already validated, and they emerged after the state Supreme Court ruled that the measure would appear on the ballot.
In addition, the state Health Department sent cease-and-desist letters this month to multiple television stations across the state that had aired an ad that supported the ballot measure. Floridians Protecting Freedom sued department officials in federal court Wednesday, accusing them of censorship and demanding that the ad be allowed to run.
Spokespersons for the DeSantis administration, the Health Department and the Agency for Health Care Administration didn’t respond to questions.
At a news conference last month, DeSantis specifically addressed allegations against the Agency for Health Care Administration, defending its website. “Everything that is put out is factual,” he said. “It is not electioneering.”
Pizzo, the Democratic state senator, said the broader efforts from DeSantis and his allies, if they succeed, could help DeSantis, who is in his second term, “hold enough political sway for the moment” and avoid a “lame-duck situation.”
But other lawmakers in the state suggested that the efforts were a product of DeSantis’ maintaining his anti-abortion credentials — both because he believes in the cause and to help differentiate himself from former President Donald Trump.
Trump has departed from the most conservative elements of the Republican Party on abortion rights by waffling on the issue. He has frequently criticized Florida’s six-week abortion ban, though he ultimately said he’d vote against Amendment 4.
“Gov. DeSantis has operated under the idea that ‘good policy is good politics.’ He was lambasted for some decisions but was often vindicated for making them,” Republican state Rep. Alex Andrade said. “I think he’s approaching this the same way, and it’s an opportunity to distinguish himself from others in the party who are willing to maintain a view on winning a general election.
“If he wins this fight, he’s added another dynamic to his conservative bona fides in the event he runs for president again,” Andrade added.
Even before their latest efforts against it took flight, Republicans and abortion-rights opponents in Florida have fought the effort at every turn over the last year.
Conservative attorneys challenged the proposal’s wording and the group’s signature-collection efforts. Attorney General Ashley Moody, a Republican, filed a brief urging the state Supreme Court to keep the question from appearing on the ballot before organizers even submitted their signatures.
Even putting the efforts from DeSantis and other Florida Republicans aside, the ballot measure faces an uphill climb. Under Florida law, it must receive the support of 60% of voters to pass, rather than a simple majority.
Public polling has found the measure falling short of the 60% threshold. Organizers behind the amendment said they remain optimistic, but they acknowledged the barrage of tactical moves against it were complicating their path.
“These kinds of scare tactics and the wasting of taxpayer dollars will only serve to make Floridians angrier. It’s not a political issue, and people are capable of supporting politicians in certain areas of their lives and disagreeing with them on the issue of abortion,” said Brenzel, of Floridians Protecting Freedom. “But certainly political interference has been a story of this initiative that makes the task harder.”
