FLORIDA - Florida voters rejected Amendment 4, a ballot initiative to safeguard abortion rights up to 24 weeks, thereby upholding the state’s restrictive six-week ban.
The measure, which needed a 60% supermajority to pass, fell short on Tuesday, marking a victory for Republican Governor Ron DeSantis and a blow to abortion-rights advocates.
The defeat makes Florida the first state to reject an abortion rights amendment since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
It also underscores the difficulty of passing such measures in Florida, which has the nation’s highest threshold for constitutional amendments.
To date, no abortion-related ballot measure in the U.S. has surpassed the 60% requirement.
The proposed amendment aimed to add protections for abortion up to 24 weeks into the state's constitution.
The measure would have blocked state lawmakers from enacting laws to “prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion” before that point.
Advocates hoped it would reverse the six-week ban, which went into effect in May, replacing a 15-week restriction.
Despite 57.1% of voters, or 6,054,370 people, supporting the measure, it fell short of the required 60% supermajority needed to pass. With 99% of votes reported, 42.9%, or 4,542,398 voters.