The political committee spearheading the campaign to pass a proposed constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights in Florida has ramped up spending in the final weeks before the November election.
Floridians Protecting Freedom, the committee behind the amendment, spent over $11 million between September 21st and September 27th, according to a newly filed finance report. This spending surge comes as the campaign enters the critical final stretch before voters head to the polls.
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Despite the significant expenditures, the committee still maintains a healthy financial position, with about $3 million in cash on hand as of September 27th. Since its formation last year, Floridians Protecting Freedom has raised nearly $60 million, demonstrating the substantial financial backing behind the effort to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution.
A major contributor during the recent reporting period was the New York-based Open Society Fund, which donated $2 million to the campaign. The majority of the spending went towards advertising, with a significant portion allocated to television and streaming media buys.
The proposed amendment, which will appear on the ballot as Amendment 4, seeks to protect the right to abortion in Florida. Specifically, it states that 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.
The campaign to pass this amendment was launched in response to a law passed by Governor Ron DeSantis and the Republican-controlled legislature that bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. The outcome of the November election will determine whether abortion rights will be explicitly protected in the Florida constitution.
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