Anne Marchetti is a staple in the fight against abortion in Central Florida. Often, you can find her with other like-minded pro-lifers out evangelizing in front of women’s health clinics and other public places where people might be going to receive an abortion. Marchetti’s message is clear, vote no on Amendment 4 and that there are resources to help should a person decide to keep their unborn baby.
“We're going to go out into the streets, and there are Christians all over the state that are committed to getting the word out against abortion as often as they can,” said Marchetti of Winter Garden.
Should it pass, Amendment 4, also known as the Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion, would enshrine abortion protections up to viability in the state constitution.
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Opponents of the amendment believe it would open the door for abortion at any stage in pregnancy, including abortions that would be considered late term occurring in the third trimester. Medical and legal experts disagree, but Marchetti doesn’t trust the wording of the measure.
“It is abortion on demand, and we are encouraging every Christian and non-Christian, to rise up and say ‘absolutely no,’” she said.
The amendment is an easy “no” for her. What isn’t as straightforward is who she’ll be voting for, or if she’ll vote at all in the presidential election. Marchetti disagrees with Democratic values and was once a registered Republican, but not anymore. She feels that the party has departed from its Christian roots and doesn’t represent the anti-abortion movement’s interests.
“The Republican Party needs to produce somebody better. According to Marchetti, the word ‘conservative’ does not mean what it used to mean,” she said. She says that the title, conservative, used to carry with it stronger Christian values and steadfast pro-life convictions.
Earlier this year, Florida enacted a six-week abortion ban, with exemptions for saving the life or a major bodily function of a pregnant person, or if the pregnancy occurred as a result of rape, incest, or human trafficking.
Florida resident and former President Donald Trump has said Florida’s six-week ban is too strict but has also said he would vote against Amendment 4. His non-committal stance on the matter has upset Pro-Lifers who are looking for a Republican who can end abortion and who isn’t using their belief to gain political capital.
On Tuesday during a town hall on Fox News, Trump said that should he be elected president he would undo abortion laws that were “too tough” stating that kind of legislation would lead to the expansion of abortion rights. He did not say which states he believes have laws that are too strict.
“He's not a leader. He's actually going along with the whims of the people. And to me, that's a lack of leadership,” Marchetti said.
In 2022, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that banned abortion procedures after 15 weeks followed by another bill banning abortions after six weeks. The latter went into law earlier this year. While many of the Pro-Life movement applaud DeSantis for his legislation, others, like Marchetti, see the incremental progress as a half measure and doing more harm than good.
Frustrated at current abortion laws
Marchetti and fellow like-minded Christians meet in front of a Planned Parenthood in east Orlando weekly. They protest against the Amendment 4 measure while also urging women not to go through with abortions. They offer literature guiding would-be mothers toward other options of adoption or parental support.
Some days they’re successful in changing people's minds….
Other days, they’re not.
“What I’m telling you is, I was always so against abortion, but you just can’t understand it,” said a woman to Marchetti and two others in the Planned Parenthood parking lot. Separating the two parties, a long, shin-high bush acted as a dividing line in the sand along the perimeter of the parking and the public side-walk the pro-life advocates stood on.
An elongated bush acted as the dividing line between the woman in the parking lot and the pro-life advocates who stood on the public sidewalk.
The woman told them this was something she had to do and that she was five weeks pregnant and she didn’t have time to argue. In Florida, abortions are generally not allowed after six weeks and state law does require a 24-hour waiting period.
Marchetti pleaded with her to not go inside, telling her that she could be a mother and that any thoughts that said she couldn’t, were lies.
“No one is lying to me. It’s my own feelings. It’s myself,” the woman said. She turned and walked inside visibly upset.
Marchetti was upset, too.
“As you can see, the six-week ban still leaves babies unprotected,” Marchetti said.
She and other advocates say the six-week ban is problematic, arguing it rushes people into making a rash decision to abort without considering other options.
The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, reports abortion procedures in Florida have steadily risen over the last few years, with 79,000 reported in 2021 and 84,000 reported in 2023. So far, there have been 50,000 reported this year compared to more than 65,000 at the end of September last year, that’s according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Who among Republicans is a local Pro-Life champion?
When asking Central Florida residents who were the political pro-life champions of unborn rights in the state, one Florida politician consistently came up,
Rep. Webster Barnaby of District 29, which covers a lot of Volusia County. Barnaby has made his position on abortion very clear. He’s against it.
“We have the consent of the governed, therefore we as legislators must be responsible for protecting life at all stages. And life, in my opinion, clearly begins at conception,” Barnaby said.
Barnaby is also a lifelong Christian and brings that worldview into his politics.
“I don't believe in being double-minded,” he said. “I have a biblical worldview, that life is something that is given to us by our Creator. And the framers of our Republic understood that when they declared that we are entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Barnaby was first elected to office in 2020 and is up for re-election this November. His district will be a battleground for Pro-Life beliefs as his Democratic opponent, Rosemarie Latham, has made Pro-Choice issues part of her campaign.
“A woman’s health care decisions are between her, her health care provider, and whomever else she chooses to include. The government should have no authority over those medical and personal decisions,” Latham said on her website.
While many Republican Party heads, such as Trump, have been dodgy on their abortion views, Barnaby proudly remains visible on the subject and sees it as a strength.
“I'm going to be very vocal, and I will be a supporter of any legislation that's going to help families,” he said.
Barnaby’s pro-life belief is guided by his religion and tragic life experiences. He and his wife have two living children, and have buried two others: a boy born prematurely at 7 months who Barnaby said died without a ventilator small enough to use, as well as a 10-month-old girl who was in need of a liver transplant, Barnaby said.
“It was a very, very difficult time in my life,” he said.
Prior to Florida’s six-week ban, Barnaby filed several anti-abortion bills, allowing for exceptions, but none made it off the floor. He supports the current ban and thinks it's a step in the right direction but he believes that more can be done by the legislature to discourage abortions. Barnaby said families need more financial support.
“Whether it's a tax credit in the home for parents with children, whether it's going back to school, everything is about fostering a culture of life,” he said.
Although some pro-lifers aren’t in agreement with former President Donald Trump, Barnaby believes Trump is the best choice for the pro-life movement.
“I believe that over time, his opinion may be more pro-life, depending on the opportunity he gets to be amongst individuals like myself,” he said.
As for Florida’s 6-week ban, Barnaby is in favor of prohibiting abortion, allowing it only in cases of rape, incest, and emergencies to save a mother. But he doesn’t think the state is ready for that.
“I don't think we're in that position. I think what we are doing in the legislature, what Gov. DeSantis has done is to be respected,” he said.
Legal experts aren’t as sure.
Florida’s stance on abortion and Amendment 4
Stetson Public Health Law professor Dr. Robyn Powell said there are no loud rumblings of more restrictions next legislative session but Florida has made its position on abortion clear.
“I don't see that it's outside of the realm of possibility. And in particular, we see that the legislature and the governor, and the administration have all shown a pretty strong will to stop Amendment 4, which they are demonstrating day in, day out,” Powell said.
In September, the state Agency for Health Care Administration began an anti-Amendment 4 campaign with commercial ads and a published webpage. Powell said that an agency of the state campaigning against a citizen-led ballot measure is unprecedented.
The ads were challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union in court, but a judge with the 2nd Judicial Circuit Court of Florida recently ruled to allow the campaign saying it was up to voters to decide on the facts, not the courts. The ads have been allowed to remain on the air.
However, court battles are still happening.
At the start of October, the Florida Department of Health sent letters to various TV stations carrying advertisements promoting Amendment 4 ordering them to cease and desist. At least one TV station in Fort Myers has stopped airing the ads. On Wednesday, the group Floridians Protecting Freedom filed a lawsuit against two head members of the DOH, asking the federal courts for an injunction to stop the state from threatening or intimidating more TV stations over the ads.
Also on Wednesday and in a separate case, former Florida Supreme Court Justice Alan Lawson filed suit in Orange County on behalf of an anti-Amendment 4 group against Floridians Protecting Freedom and several others, alleging FPF did not get the 900,000 signatures it needed to place Amendment 4 on the November ballot. The suit accuses the group of hiring a California company to gather fraudulent signatures and states that at least 16% of the signatures were fraudulent. The lawsuit requests that Amendment 4 be disqualified from the ballot. According to the Orange County Clerk of Courts, the case is still pending.
Being a pro-life Christian in a changing Republican Party
Sandra Diaz drives an hour every week from Titusville to the Planned Parenthood in east Orlando. She, like Marchetti, is determined to convince people not to get abortions and also explains to people walking by why they should vote “no” on Amendment 4.
Having inherited the pro-life belief from her mother at a young age, Diaz stands in the hot sun, or on rainy days, determined to deliver a pro-life message.
“It's our promise, our commitment, to be out here consistently to help the women and the babies,” she said. “We're telling them, your baby can live. We will help you. You're not alone.”
To the people who listen, Diaz gives them literature from pregnancy crisis centers and reminds them of their options.
Like some of her fellow advocates, Diaz isn’t sure who to vote for in the upcoming presidential election and isn’t impressed with Trump’s abortion beliefs.
“I am in conflict right now. I don't know who I'm going to vote for and that that should be something that should reach Donald Trump because he's losing the people that supported him because of his stance on abortion,” Diaz said.
However, Diaz recognizes that Trump’s attitude on abortion appears on the surface to mirror a shift she’s seen in her fellow Christian Republicans, showing tolerance for abortion. Diaz said she’s seen a political shift in Christians that appears to be more moderate.
“I've seen a real heart for pro-abortion, and that even comes from professed Christians,” she said. “There's a whole new idea of what abortion is right now, and I think that the mindset says that it's healthcare when it's not. Two go in. One comes out.”
She’s hopeful enough Floridians will rally to vote down Amendment 4. Either way, she’ll continue to stand for life.
“I don't want to see me going down 10 years from now, pleading ‘Please don't murder your baby.’ I don't want that to be the case. I want it to be ended, but I will stand until it ends,” she said.
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