Florida abortion rights constitutional amendment campaign raises $212,000 in one week

abortion rights rally — "Elephant in the womb" sign at the “Bans Off Our Bodies” rally along the downtown waterfront of St. Petersburg, Florida. By Seán Kinane/WMNF News (24 June 2022).

A political committee leading efforts to pass a proposed constitutional amendment on abortion rights raised more than $212,000 from June 15 through June 21, a new finance report shows.

The Floridians Protecting Freedom committee collected $212,857 in cash during the week and had about $15.3 million on hand as of June 21, the report posted on the state Division of Elections website shows.

It also received $52,876 in in-kind contributions during the period. Floridians Protecting Freedom began the constitutional amendment drive last year after the Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis approved a law to prevent women from having abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.

The proposal will appear as Amendment 4 on the November ballot and says, in part, that no “law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.”

It would need approval from 60 percent of voters to pass and has drawn opposition from DeSantis and other state Republican leaders.