ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Florida voters are expected to reject a pro-choice constitutional amendment Tuesday that would have repealed the state’s six-week abortion ban and restored access to the procedure up to about 24 weeks of pregnancy .

Amendment 4, or the Abortion Rights Initiative, sought to add language to the Florida Constitution stating that “no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion prior to its viability or when it is necessary to protect the health of the patient, as determined by the patient’s health care.” supplier.” The amendment required a qualified majority of 60% of the votes to be adopted.

This is the first abortion rights amendment to fail since federal abortion protections fell away, despite support from a majority of Floridians.

The result is a disappointment for choice advocates in the state who worked tirelessly and raised millions to get the measure passed. For Floridians Protecting Freedom, the collective behind Amendment 4, the RAI involved a tougher battle than any other abortion rights vote this election season, given the onslaught of attacks from leaders Republicans.

“The end of the pro-abortion Amendment 4 is a momentous victory for life in Florida and for our entire country,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the national anti-abortion group SBA Pro-Life America, in a press release Tuesday evening. “Thanks to Governor Ron DeSantis, when we wake up tomorrow, babies with beating hearts will still be protected in the free state of Florida.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has made Florida one of the most extreme anti-abortion states in the country. Using taxpayer dollars, DeSantis launched a brazen assault on the pro-choice amendment months before Election Day. The governor traveled the state weeks before the election, holding rallies against Amendment 4.

Floridians were all out in the weeks leading up to Election Day. About 20 students at the University of Central Florida in Orlando introduced Amendments 3 and 4 Monday, handing out literature on where to vote and answering questions about ballot initiatives. The DeSantis administration also opposed Amendment 3, which seeks to legalize recreational marijuana use.

Florida House Representatives Anna Eskamani (D) and Maxwell Frost (D) have joined the UCF College Democrats group on campus to get out the vote. Eskamani, who worked at Planned Parenthood for six years before being elected to the state legislature, told HuffPost that she shifted her entire get-out-the-vote campaign to focus entirely on the Yes On 4 campaign in the days leading up to the election.

Jessica, a UCF sophomore and member of the College Democrats group, had been handing out literature to students daily for three weeks. She told HuffPost that most of her conversations with other students were simply to inform them that there was a pro-choice amendment on the ballot and what it would do. Most students, she said, don’t even realize there is a six-week abortion ban in Florida.

“We’re just trying to get students to understand that it’s the best ticket that counts, but also yes on 3 and 4,” Jessica said. “Yes out of 4, this is a very important point because we want women to have autonomy over their bodies.”

“I think a lot of students really care about reproductive rights,” she added.

There were a handful of college students from UCF Republicans group holding a table in support of Donald Trump and handing out flyers against Amendments 3 and 4. When Jessica took a microphone to speak to passing students, encouraging them to come out and vote yes on Amendment 4 and support Harris/Walz, one of the Republican students shouted: “The election was stolen!” »

Other DeSantis attacks leading up to Election Day included add a misleading budget impact statement alongside the pro-choice amendment. The statement was written by a supposedly nonpartisan committee that included a representative from the governor’s office and an economist from the Heritage Foundation, the ultra-conservative think tank behind Project 2025.

The DeSantis administration also militarized a nonpartisan government agency to launch a disinformation campaign against Amendment 4 – claiming the six-week abortion ban was designed to “protect women from unsafe and unsanitary conditions.” This allegation does not match the reality that several Florida women have made national news for having life-saving abortion care delayed or denied under the six-week ban.

A month before the election, the Florida Department of Health sent a cease and desist letter to several local media outlets, threatening criminal charges if the media continued to air an ad supporting Amendment 4. It was revealed later that the letter – signed by John Wilson, the Health Department’s general counsel at the time – was actually written by DeSantis’ lawyers. DeSantis officials handed the document to Wilson and asked him to sign it under his name. Wilson resigned shortly afterward, writing in his resignation letter that “a man is nothing without his conscience.”

The current six-week ban on abortion, which includes vague exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the pregnant person, will remain in place.