'New York Times' notes that radical abortion proposal will fail in Florida

A majority of voters in Florida would vote against a ballot proposal that would establish abortion as a right in the state's Constitution. This was revealed in a poll conducted by The New York Times and Siena College.

This amendment would allow access to abortion up to fetal viability, between 24 and 28 weeks gestation, and would repeal the current ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy which went into effect earlier this year.

The poll showed that 46% of likely voters said they would vote in favor of the abortion amendment while 38% expressed they would vote against it and 16% indicated they did not know or declined to answer. The poll was conducted between September 29 and October 6.

However, the proposal would be far from the number needed to pass. Florida requires 60% of voters to approve any amendment. In other words, the poll indicates that support for the measure is far below what is required.

The results also show a shift in voters' position on the issue. Two polls, conducted in August and September, showed that more than a majority of voters supported the measure (56% and 55%), but they were still below what is needed for it to pass.

Although pro-abortion groups have insisted in their ads that the proposal is to protect women's lives, Gov. Ron DeSantis has made it clear that the state's ban allows doctors to perform abortions when two doctors certify in writing that an abortion is necessaryto save the life of the pregnant woman.

Florida is one of 10 states addressing abortion on the ballot in November. In eight of those states, measures require only a simple majority to pass.

In that regard, New York Times explained that "Democrats are hoping that the ballot measures on abortion rights might increase turnout for their candidates. But those since 2022 have attracted support from Republicans and outperformed some Democratic candidates even in reliably blue states like California."