Florida abortion amendment backers decry 'dirty trick' language approved by state panel

A Florida panel approved language that will accompany a November ballot initiative on abortion, saying the initiative will have a negative impact on the state budget, a move the amendment’s supporters decried as a politically motivated “dirty trick.” 

The amendment would result in “significantly more abortions and fewer live births per year,” and there is uncertainty about whether the amendment will require the state to subsidize abortions with public funds, according to the financial impact statement.  

The statement approved late Monday noted that potential lawsuits to resolve “uncertainties” could be costly, and that an increase in abortions “may negatively affect the growth of state and local revenues over time.” 

Florida requires proposed amendments to the state constitution to be accompanied on the ballot by a financial impact statement, which assesses the potential impact on government revenues and the state budget. The language is approved by a panel called the Financial Impact Estimating Conference, which is considered to be nonpartisan. 

The panel released an initial analysis last fall but said the impact couldn't be determined due to ongoing lawsuits challenging Florida's then-15-week abortion ban. It still cited potential savings relative to the 15-week prohibition. 

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and Florida House Speaker Paul Renner (R) have appointed new members since then — Rachel Greszler, a senior research fellow with the conservative Heritage Foundation, and Chris Spencer, who previously served as DeSantis's budget chief. 

DeSantis’s office also hired Michael New, an assistant professor of social research at the Busch School of Business at the Catholic University of America, to advise the panel.  

Lauren Brenzel, campaigns director for the Yes on 4 initiative, said the panel is trying to cause confusion and hide the fact that the amendment would end Florida’s current 6-week abortion ban. 

“What should have been an easy administrative fix on outdated language has become a dirty trick to mislead voters,” Brenzel said in a statement. 

“This sham of a process is a reminder to Florida voters that politicians are playing dirty tricks to overcomplicate and politicize a simple administrative fix. The only way to put a stop to the government interference is to vote Yes on 4,” Brenzel said. 

Michelle Morton, staff attorney for American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, said the approved statement “is a distorted narrative fueled by political agendas and a corrupted process. It is rife with anti-abortion talking points and far-fetched scenarios designed to scare voters into maintaining the status quo of a near-total ban on abortion.” 

Morton also condemned Spencer and Greszler's appointments, which “shifted the focus towards wildly speculative discussions divorced from both reality and the conference’s purpose.” 

Florida’s Supreme Court approved the amendment in April, on the same day the court upheld the 15-week ban. The decision triggered the current six-week ban to take effect a month later. 

DeSantis has campaigned against the initiative, calling it “radical” and "very, very extreme.”