Florida Parental Notification on Abortion Ballot Proposal Heads for Victory 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 30, 2004
Tallahassee, FL (LifeNews.com) — With little political opposition and polls showing overwhelming support, a Florida ballot measure that would require abortion businesses to tell parents when their teenage daughters are considering an abortion appears headed for victory.
A new Palm Beach Post-Reuters-Zogby International poll of 594 likely Florida voters released on Saturday shows 68 percent of voters supporting Amendment 1. Only 25 percent opposed the proposal.
Last week, a poll published by the Miami Herald and St. Petersburg Times showed 64 percent of Florida residents backing the ballot issue.
The measure, which would amend the state’s constitution to allow the state legislature to approve a parental notification bill, enjoys support from both Democrats (65 percent) and Republicans (76 percent). Women (67 percent) and men (69 percent) both support Amendment 1.
The Zogby poll also showed the notification measure with wide support among all age groups and races, and Jewish voters were the only group within the poll to oppose notifying parents.
Even several Florida newspapers, such as the Tampa Tribune, have endorsed the measure, which has shown to reduce abortions among teenagers by as much as 30 percent in other states with similar laws.
Part of the reason the pro-life measure appeared on the road to victory is that leading abortion advocacy groups have not organized a high-spending campaign to defeat it.
Instead, most of the money leading pro-abortion organizations have spent on Tuesday’s elections in Florida are focused on the high-profile races for president and U.S. Senate.
"There aren’t big bucks available to fight this amendment," said Larry Spalding of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, in an interview with the St. Petersburg Times newspaper. "You do what you can on a nonexistent budget."
However, third-party candidates from the Socialist Workers Party are urging voters to disapprove Amendment 1.
“We are taking a strong position against Amendment 1, which is a blatantly reactionary attack on a woman’s right to choose and on the privacy rights of young women in particular," Nicole Sarmiento, SWP candidate for U.S. Senate, told The Militant.
Pro-life groups strongly support the proposal and say parental notification would be good for both teens and parents.
Related web sites:
Florida State Legislature – https://www.leg.state.fl.us
Florida Right to Life – https://www.frtl.org
