With Abortion on the Ballot, Amendment 4 Could Rally Record Numbers of Young Voters

With the days until Election Day dwindling and early voting underway, millions of voters across Florida have a rare opportunity to vote on one of America’s most polarizing issues: abortion. For young voters, it has risen to the top of their concerns as they head toward the ballot box.

But Amendment 4 – officially listed as the “Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion” – is facing last-minute challenges from anti-abortion groups, as well as accusations from pro-choice groups of undue influence from Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has been working to defeat the measure.

As voters prioritize reproductive healthcare over other popular issues like inflation and immigration, younger Florida students who haven’t yet formed their opinions on Amendment 4 are few and far between. 

“It comes down to those in power mandating women’s bodies,” 20-year-old FAU student Gabrielle Mathison said. “They want to take away that choice for us.” 

While Republicans continue to support abortion bans – 41 states have some kind of a ban triggered by the overturn of Roe v. Wade, according to the Guttmacher Institute – Vice President Kamala Harris has made her support of reproductive rights a focal point in her campaign. Harris and other Democrats have focused on sharing stories of women who have had life-threatening miscarriages or deaths due to living in states with abortion bans, and have been running ads showcasing the nightmare scenarios already happening to women and girls in the two-plus years since Roe was overturned.

Former President Trump, meanwhile, has touted his success in appointing the three Supreme Court judges who contributed to the overturn of abortion rights in 2022, saying on multiple occasions that everyone wanted it to go back to the States.” However, Trump has vacillated on whether he supports a nationwide ban – a goal of many anti-abortion activists – and has on occasion expressed his support for exceptions in cases of incest, rape or danger to the mother’s life. 

“NO on 4” and “YES on 4” signs have popped up in yards and across highways around Florida, making it clear that this is one of the most divisive issues for voters across the state. Both anti- and pro-abortion ads are popping up on the screens of Americans everywhere. But Florida’s choice has become increasingly fractious and litigious, as DeSantis’ office has tried to force Florida television stations to pull ads, the Washington Post reported Monday.

As Nov. 5 nears, DeSantis has made his opposition to Amendment 4 abundantly clear in his last attempts to sway voters. On Oct. 18, Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker blocked DeSantis and other officials from threatening television stations with criminal charges for running pro ‘Yes On 4’ advertisements. "To keep it simple for the state of Florida: it's the First Amendment, stupid," Walker said in the temporary order. 

Amendment 4, if approved at the ballot box, will go into effect next year. But it’s almost impossible to predict whether it will pass. A poll released on Monday by the University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab showed 60% approval of the measure – exactly the amount needed for it to succeed. 

As Nov. 5 nears, DeSantis has made his opposition to Amendment 4 abundantly clear in his last attempts to sway voters. On Oct. 18, Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker blocked DeSantis and other officials from threatening television stations with criminal charges for running pro ‘Yes On 4’ advertisements. "To keep it simple for the state of Florida: it's the First Amendment, stupid," Walker said in the temporary order. 

The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, or AHCA, is ramping up efforts to try to shut down the pro-choice amendment. Jason Weida, the secretary of the agency, said on X that the new webpage funded by the AHCA is meant to “combat lies and disinformation surrounding Florida’s abortion laws.” The site states that Amendment 4 “threatens to expose women and children to health risks.” The Florida AHCA is in charge of many important factors of healthcare, such as Medicaid and licensing healthcare professionals. 

“No health care association should be this biased,” said Shelby Demeus, a nurse at Boca Raton Regional Hospital. “It should be up to the woman carrying the fetus and her doctor. There should be no attempt to stop Amendment 4 from [reaching voters].” 

Florida’s current abortion ban kicks in at six weeks, a period of time that ends before many women and girls know that they are pregnant.  To many young voters, that’s hardly a realistic window to make a decision. The sense of increasing focus on reproductive rights is palpable. About 2 in 5 in the group of young voters polled by KFF,  a health policy research, polling and news organization, said abortion was their top concern in their most recent survey, compared with 1 in 5 who ranked it most important in the same survey in the spring.

Students for Life, an anti-abortion group on the FAU campus, sees things in a different light. 

“It's going too far,” said member David Linares, who was wearing a “NO on 4” pin as he spoke to students passing by him in the Breezeway, the main thoroughfare of campus. “We shouldn’t take the chance on Amendment 4, or abortion. It’s a human’s rights issue.” The group says it takes a “human’s rights” approach – viewing a fetus as a person – in contrast to what many others see as a women’s rights issue. 

As the 2024 election nears, the role of young South Florida voters and their views on Amendment 4 could be a decisive factor in the political landscape. That is, if they come out in historically high numbers. In 2020, the last presidential election year, only 47% of Floridians aged 18-24 who were eligible to vote actually did, according to KFF. With so much at stake, Gen Z is poised to influence not only the outcome of the election but also the future of reproductive rights policy in Florida.