A former skilled soccer coach and outspoken Christian is urging Florida voters to reject a poll measure that may set up a constitutional proper to abortion within the state, describing it as “literally a matter of life and death.”
Former Nationwide Soccer League Coach Tony Dungy posted a video on X Monday urging residents of Florida to vote in opposition to Modification 4, which might set up a constitutional proper to abortion within the state. Dungy urged his fellow Floridians to “read this amendment very carefully before you vote.”
“I’m convinced if you read it carefully, you will join me in voting ‘No,’” he mentioned. “Amendment 4 was strategically written to be vague and deceptive, giving voters little information about its sweeping impact.”
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Noting how, if permitted by voters, the measure would amend the state structure to learn, “No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability,” Dungy expressed concern that the proposed constitutional modification “never states when that is.” The time period “viability” is used to explain the stage in a being pregnant when a preborn child can survive exterior the womb.
Dungy advised that the failure to outline “viability” may lead to abortions being carried out as late as 36 weeks right into a being pregnant, which is sort of full time period.
“Under Amendment 4, viability is not defined in law or determined by doctors but decided by ‘healthcare providers,’” he warned. Dungy maintained that the time period “healthcare providers” may apply to “employees of abortion clinics who are not doctors.”
“The bottom line is, if Amendment 4 passes, there would be no time limit, allowing for late-term abortions when science says that the baby can feel pain,” he mentioned. Dungy mirrored on the portion of the modification permitting abortions after viability “when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.”
Dungy condemned the vagueness of the time period “health,” inquiring as as to whether it utilized to “physical health, mental health [or] emotional health” and “how serious must that health concern be.”
He added, “It doesn’t say, but allows the same healthcare providers at abortion clinics to make that determination.”
“And while Amendment 4 says that it leaves in place laws that require parental notification, it fails to inform voters that it overturns Florida’s law requiring parental consent, making abortion the only medical procedure that can be performed on a minor without the parents’ permission,” he warned.
Dungy pointed to the fallout of the passage of an identical poll measure in his residence state of Michigan as a purpose why voters ought to oppose Modification 4, highlighting how legal professionals are “using that amendment to sue the state of Michigan to force taxpayers to fund elective abortions” by Medicaid. “The same could easily happen here if Amendment 4 passes,” he asserted.
“I believe that all mothers deserve healthcare and protection. Florida’s current laws provide exceptions to allow abortions in cases of rape, incest or to protect the health and life of the mother,” Dungy declared. “But I also believe that all babies in the womb are actual lives in God’s eyes, and those babies deserve protection too.”
Dungy concluded the video by expressing confidence that “we can protect the health of mothers and protect the lives of babies with a better solution that doesn’t have so many loopholes and uncertainties,” including, “Never before have we been asked to vote on something that is literally a matter of life and death.”
Stressing that “that is what Amendment 4 comes down to,” Dungy referred to as on his fellow Floridians to “please join me in defending life by voting ‘No’ on Amendment 4.”
On the finish of the video, viewers see the emblem for Apologetics, Inc. The group characterizes its mission as being to “show why Christianity is true and satisfying and equip Christians to share this news with creativity and clarity” by partaking in discipleship, outreach and content material creation with the objective of making “a generation captivated and transformed by Christianity.”
All through the video, the phrases “Know the Truth” seem a number of instances, with the letters “N” and “O” in pink together with the phrases “on 4” immediately beneath. The presence of these phrases relies on the premise that if voters “know the truth,” they are going to vote “No on 4.”
The newest public opinion polling exhibits conflicting indicators as as to whether or not Modification 4 will safe the votes crucial for passage. A ballot of 977 seemingly voters carried out by the College of North Florida from Oct. 7-18 discovered that 60% of respondents deliberate to vote for Modification 4, whereas 38% supposed to reject it.
Whereas the College of North Florida ballot predicts that Modification 4 will simply barely attain the 60% threshold required to move, a survey of 622 seemingly Florida voters carried out by The New York Occasions and Siena Faculty from Sept. 29-Oct. 6 measured help for the pro-abortion poll measure at simply 46% whereas pegging opposition to it at 38%.
If handed, Modification 4 would nullify the six-week abortion ban on the books in Florida that features exceptions permitting abortions later in being pregnant as a way to shield the life or well being of the mom or in circumstances of rape, incest or human trafficking. Ladies also can have abortions later in being pregnant if their child is set to have a deadly fetal anomaly.
For the reason that U.S. Supreme Court docket dominated in Dobbs v. Jackson Ladies’s Well being Group that the U.S. Structure doesn’t include a proper to abortion, voters in a number of states have handed measures establishing rights to abortion of their respective state constitutions. Voters in California, Michigan and Vermont permitted referendums establishing constitutional rights to abortion in 2022 whereas Ohio adopted swimsuit in 2023.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Submit. He might be reached at: [email protected]
“Well bless their hearts.”
