Florida Amendment 4 in simple terms, and what are Florida’s abortion laws?

This November, Florida voters will either leave the state's new six-week abortion ban in place or expand abortion access closer to what it was before Roe v Wade was struck down in 2022.

Amendment 4, Abortion Access, which will appear on November's ballot, would enshrine abortion access in the Florida Constitution if it wins by a supermajority, or at least 60% of the vote. 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.”

Voting yes would make abortion legal until fetal viability, which is generally considered to be around 23-24 weeks. It would also allow abortions when necessary to protect a patient’s health, as determined by a health care provider. 

Voting no would leave abortions illegal in Florida after six weeks unless two physicians are willing to state that the pregnant person would die without one. Pregnancies from rape, incest or sexual trafficking are permitted up to 15 weeks only with law enforcement or court documents as evidence.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida Republicans and anti-abortion groups are strongly against this amendment, claiming it is too vague and will lead to an unregulated abortion industry. Supporters say it will put control over the pregnant person's body back where it belongs, with the person and their healthcare provider.

In a recent survey of likely Florida voters from the University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab, 69% of those surveyed said they'd vote yes compared to only 23% saying no, despite DeSantis' increasing efforts to stop the amendment.

What are the abortion laws in Florida?

As of May 1, 2024, most abortions in Florida after six weeks — with a few exceptions — are illegal after a "physician determines the gestational age of the fetus is more than 6 weeks," a time when studies show one in three pregnant people don't yet know they're pregnant.

People may have as little as two weeks after missing a period to find out and get both appointments at the state's overworked clinics, which leaves an extremely narrow window for a pregnant person in a potentially traumatic situation to take action. The state also requires a 24-hour waiting period so patients will need to fit in two appointments before the legal deadline.

The six-week ban was passed while the courts were still deciding if the previous 15-week ban was constitutional, and went into effect 30 days after the court ruled that it was.

Does Florida abortion ban allow exceptions for rape, incest or danger to the pregnant person?

While the law reduces the amount of time pregnant people have to get an abortion, it does provide some exemptions for extreme cases "to save the pregnant woman’s life or avert a serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function."

This requires physicians willing to risk possible fines, loss of license and even imprisonment by going on record against oversight committees and the state, something some doctors and hospitals have been reluctant to do.

Exceptions were added in cases of rape, incest and/or human trafficking that the previous 15-week ban lacked, but only up to 15 weeks, and only if the pregnant person has copies of "a restraining order, police report, medical record, or other court order or documentation" to provide evidence that they are a victim of rape or incest.

Does the 6-week abortion ban in Florida ban abortion pills?

Abortion pills are banned unless they are administered by a licensed doctor in person.

So-called "abortion pills" — actually two pills, mifepristone and misoprostol, taken up to 48 hours apart — which cause a person’s cervix to dilate and their uterus to contract, emptying the embryo from the person’s uterus, have dramatically risen in popularity in the last few years both for the relative convenience compared to surgical abortions and to get around abortion bans. Access to them was been challenged but was ultimately protected by the U.S. Supreme Court in June.

The new law clearly states that abortions may only be performed by a physician in the same room. Telehealth sessions are specifically banned.

Can I go to jail for getting an abortion after 6 weeks in Florida?

Florida law prohibits anyone from willfully performing or actively helping someone get an abortion outside of the six-week gestational period or the legal exemptions. Doing so is considered a third-degree felony, punishable by fines and imprisonment of five years. There are no penalties listed for the pregnant person.

"Florida's criminal abortion penalties do not apply to pregnant women," the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration said in a clarification. Florida law only states that a person upon whom a partial-birth abortion is performed, which is illegal, may not be prosecuted.

What were the abortion laws under Roe v Wade?

In Roe v Wade, the Supreme Court ruled that abortion was protected under the right to privacy implied in the 14th Amendment. The court divided the typical 40-week pregnancy into three trimesters, with different legal protections:

• First trimester (1-12 weeks): States could place no limits on abortions other than basic medical safeguards.
• Second trimester (13-28 weeks): States could enact reasonable medical regulations provided they were narrowly tailored to protect the pregnant person's health but could not prohibit abortion.
• Third trimester (29-40 weeks): This is the point where fetal viability could be detected with the medical technology available in 1973. From this point on, states could legally prohibit all abortions except where necessary to protect the pregnant person's life or health.

The amendment seeks to restore unfettered abortion access to the point of fetus viability, which is now detectable at about 23-24 weeks.