After last week’s election organizers for Florida’s Amendment 4 are disappointed but still determined.
Amendment 4, which would’ve allowed abortions up to 24 weeks, failed to meet the threshold to pass with 57.2% of votes in favor. It needed 60% to pass. That means the state’s six-week abortion ban stays in place.
“Well, I have mixed feelings, of course,” said Robin Blyn, a Pensacola organizer who worked to gather petitions to get Amendment 4 on the ballot. “I am definitely disappointed that we didn't get the 60%, because not having the amendment go into effect in January will affect so many people. On the other hand, at final count, what we did achieve is a very formidable majority.”
Blyn, who helped establish PART (Pensacola Abortion Rights Taskforce), after Roe v. Wade was overturned, said the 57.2% of voters is a “mandate for moving forward.”
“We know that this is what Floridians want,” she said. “I mean, over 6 million people voted for it.”
Measures such as adding a financial impact statement to the ballot language, which Blyn called “misleading and untrue,” and a robust “Vote No on 4 Campaign” were “serious deterrents,” she said.
Abortion rights amendments passed in seven states on Election Day and failed in three including Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota.
READ MORE: Lawyers accuse Florida officials of election interference over abortion amendment
Groups such as Florida Voice for the Unborn celebrated last week’s election results and called on Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state legislature to pass “complete legal protections for unborn children, from the moment of conception,” said Andrew Shirvell, founder and executive director of Florida Voice for the Unborn, in a statement shared on Facebook.
Organizers across the state helped gather petitions to put the amendment on the ballot. Floridians Protecting Freedom submitted 1.4 million signatures and raised more than $100 million for the initiative.
Even though the amendment didn’t pass, Blyn said the work is not done.
“We will continue to hold our workshops that share resources with people — how one would get abortion pills if one needed them, how one would use them safely,” she said. “We will continue to provide resources in terms of people who need abortions.”
The goal now is to recruit more people to join the task force and raise funds for abortion care. There’s been a spike in donations to abortion funds in Florida post-election. Blyn said she sees more local engagement, too.
READ MORE: Florida’s Amendment 4 drove these young voters to the polls, but not for the same reasons
“Now people are seeing that they need to commit themselves to the cause,” she said. “And so that's one of the things that we're doing. And then the second thing is to continue working toward political change. And third, and perhaps most urgent is to make sure that people who need resources know where to get them.”
On Saturday, PART will have a new member orientation at the Pensacola Liberation Center, and on Sunday, there will be a rally outside the Federal Court House on Palafox Street at 2 p.m.
“We know that many people are angry. They also want to speak up and let their legislators know and let the community know that we are not going to stop fighting for reproductive rights, including abortion,” said Blyn. “We are having a rally on Sunday, to affirm our commitment to continue the fight, to educating people, and to making change.”
Blyn has been an advocate for abortion rights for what she calls a “really long time.” For first-time voters new to the cause, she knows there may be feelings of defeat.
Getting involved is one way to move forward, she said.
“I think for somebody like me, I'm cushioned against that despair not only because I've been at it for a really long time, but also because I have worked with so many fantastic people,” Blyn added. “And I would urge every young person to join in because that's where you're going to stave off despair. It's in doing something that we come to feel hopeful about the future.”
