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Florida Abolish Abortion Amendment (2018)
| Florida Abolish Abortion Amendment | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 6, 2018 | |
| Topic Abortion | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin Citizens |
The Florida Abolish Abortion Amendment (#16-05) was not on the ballot in Florida as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 6, 2018.
The measure would have made executing or procuring an abortion a first-degree murder offense and attempting to procure or execute an abortion a felony with an attempted murder offense.[1]
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title was as follows:[1]
| “ |
ABOLISH ABORTION[2] |
” |
Ballot summary
The ballot summary was as follows:[1]
| “ |
Abortion deprives an innocent human being of the inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Any person who performs or procures an abortion shall be guilty of premeditated murder in the first degree, and any person who attempts to perform or procure an abortion shall be guilty of felony attempted murder. This provision shall prevail over any other conflicting provisions.[2] |
” |
Constitutional changes
The amendment was designed to add Section 28 to Article I of the Florida Constitution if passed by voters.
| Section 28 of Article I of the Florida Constitution[1] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Article 1, Section 28. Abortion is Murder – Inasmuch as abortion deprives an innocent human being of the inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, any person who performs or procures an abortion shall be guilty of premeditated murder in the first degree, and any person who attempts to perform or procure an abortion shall be guilty of felony attempted murder. This provision shall prevail over any other conflicting provision(s). | |||||
Full text
The full text for this amendment can be found here.
Support
Supporters
Abolish Abortion Florida (AAFL) sponsored this amendment.[3]
Path to the ballot
In Florida, signature requirements for qualifying an initiative for the ballot are based on the total number of votes cast during the most recent presidential election. Sponsors must collect a number equal to 8 percent of this total and in accordance with certain distribution requirements. Signatures can remain valid up to two years after the date they were signed, but they must be verified by February 1 of the targeted year, and therefore must be submitted prior to that date.
2018
- The amendment was approved by the Division of Elections on September 16, 2016.[3]
- Supporters needed to submit 766,200 valid signatures by February 1, 2018, in order to qualify the measure for the ballot.
- On February 1, 2018, the campaign had filed zero valid signatures.
State profile
| Demographic data for Florida | ||
|---|---|---|
| Florida | U.S. | |
| Total population: | 20,244,914 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 53,625 | 3,531,905 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White: | 76% | 73.6% |
| Black/African American: | 16.1% | 12.6% |
| Asian: | 2.6% | 5.1% |
| Native American: | 0.3% | 0.8% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| Two or more: | 2.4% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 23.7% | 17.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 86.9% | 86.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 27.3% | 29.8% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $47,507 | $53,889 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 19.8% | 11.3% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Florida. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | ||
Presidential voting pattern
- See also: Presidential voting trends in Florida
Florida voted Republican in five out of the seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.
Pivot Counties (2016)
Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, four are located in Florida, accounting for 1.94 percent of the total pivot counties.[4]
Pivot Counties (2020)
In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Florida had three Retained Pivot Counties and one Boomerang Pivot County, accounting for 1.66 and 4.00 percent of all Retained and Boomerang Pivot Counties, respsectively.
More Florida coverage on Ballotpedia
- Elections in Florida
- United States congressional delegations from Florida
- Public policy in Florida
- Endorsers in Florida
- Florida fact checks
- More...
Related measures
See also
- 2018 ballot measures
- Florida 2018 ballot measures
- Laws governing the initiative process in Florida
- Abortion policy ballot measures
External links
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Florida abolish abortion amendment 2018. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Florida Division of Elections, "Abolish Abortion Constitutional Amendment Petition Form," accessed December 1, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 3.0 3.1 Florida Division of Elections, "ABOLISH ABORTION 16-05," accessed December 1, 2016
- ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
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