Abortion until birth? What we can VERIFY about Florida's Amendment 4 ballot measure

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Abortion access in Florida is center stage as the state’s more restrictive six-week ban took effect May 1.

At the same time, voters will have the chance to decide in November whether abortion access should be enshrined in the state’s constitution.

Floridians will see the following initiative on their ballot: “Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion,” also known as Amendment 4.

Under the ballot title, the summary language of the amendment reads: “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. This amendment does not change the Legislature’s constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion.”

To pass, Amendment 4 needs at least 60% of the vote.

In remarks to Florida delegates at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Gov. Ron DeSantis said the ballot measure would allow abortion “up to the moment of birth.” VERIFY viewer Mike R. forwarded an email he said he received from a group encouraging Floridians to vote "no" on Amendment 4 which claimed the same thing.

THE QUESTION

Does Amendment 4 allow abortion until the moment of birth?

THE SOURCES

• Amendment 4 official ballot language
• Florida Constitution
• Florida statute defining viability
• Financial impact analysis of Amendment 4
• American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)
• Guttmacher Institute
• Lou Virelli, Stetson constitutional law expert

THE ANSWER

Amendment 4 would allow abortion until viability, as defined by existing state statute, and only after if necessary to protect the health of the mother.

WHAT WE FOUND

Amendment 4 reads, “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.”

This means if approved by 60% of voters, abortions would be permitted in Florida up until fetal viability or after if a medical provider deems it necessary to protect the mother’s health.

The amendment effectively restores abortion access in the state to what it was when Roe v. Wade was the law of the land, according to Stetson University constitutional law professor Lou Virelli.

Florida law defines viability as, "the stage of fetal development when the life of a fetus is sustainable outside the womb through standard medical measures." The measure would not modify this definition.

Fetal viability is generally considered to be around 24 weeks of a full-term 40-week pregnancy, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

“Clinicians who provide obstetric care are in the best possible position to consider all factors when attempting to predict viability,” reads a post about “understanding and navigating viability” on the ACOG’s website.

Most abortions in the U.S. – more than 90% – happen within the first trimester, or up to roughly 13 weeks of pregnancy, according to CDC data analyzed by the Guttmacher Institute, a non-profit nonpartisan policy and research organization. 

“This is a unique opportunity to vote for a constitutional amendment where the alternative has been laid out clearly in advance,” Virelli told VERIFY. “The six-week ban will be the law of Florida if this amendment reinstating Roe is not enacted.”