Florida became the first state to reject an abortion rights amendment since Roe v. Wade was overturned.
The Supreme Court sent the abortion issue back to the states and away from the federal government when it overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. The ballot initiative required 60% of the vote to pass, but it failed with 57%.
Amendment 4, officially titled “Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion,” received over 6 million Yes votes for approval but still fell short. Republican Governor Ron DeSantis led the charge against the abortion amendment, despite complaints from the Democratic Party and activists.
One pro-life group, Created Equal, spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in media and hundreds of hours canvassing in Florida.
“Despite winning in Florida, our movement is losing a winnable battle nationally,” said Mark Harrington, President of Created Equal. “Now, pro-life advocates are emboldened to defeat these measures in more states (i.e. Arkansas, Oklahoma, Oregon, and New Jersey) in 2026. We are not deterred in our pursuit of equality. We will pivot the national momentum toward winning strategies and tactics.”
Created Equal is a national anti-abortion organization that deploys a traveling photo exhibit to show what abortion does to preborn children, which made it to Central Florida and the UCF campus in Orlando among other locations.
The abortion issue was one Democrats were counting on to impact the vote, but it did not help in Florida. Voters in South Dakota and Nebraska also were against state efforts to expand access to abortion. However, it was still a motivating issue as seven states passed amendments or propositions to protect abortion rights and millions of women were encouraged to vote and campaign on the issue around the nation, even though Florida rejected the abortion amendment.
After the failure of Amendment 4, pro-choice advocates say the fight continues for abortion rights in Florida.
“This is a heartbreaking loss,” said Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried. “Republicans treated this like a political game — but women will die because of their efforts to end access to reproductive healthcare in the south. Many doctors will lose their licenses, face lawsuits or flee the state entirely, affecting access to quality care for all Floridians.
“Florida is the only state with abortion on the ballot this year to require a 60% threshold to pass and Ron DeSantis broke every law in the book to run a taxpayer-funded propaganda campaign to knock off just enough votes to defeat the amendment. The Amendment 4 campaign faced unprecedented attacks from the state at every turn.”
