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•Councilman Doug Stauffer’s motion to oppose Amendment 4, which would loosen Florida’s abortion restrictions, died for lack of support from the Niceville City Council.
•Public attendees expressed frustration with the council’s inaction, likening the amendment to historical atrocities and accusing the council of abandoning moral responsibilities.
•Amendment 4, appearing on the November ballot, would block laws restricting abortions before viability, with prominent endorsements and opposition on both sides.
The Niceville City Council has no power over the State of Florida’s ability to regulate abortions. That did not stop Niceville’s newest Councilman, Pastor Doug Stauffer, from bringing up a resolution to officially oppose an amendment that would loosen abortion restrictions in the Sunshine State.
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The motion brought by the councilman, a Republican Party activist, to discuss the resolution died due to a lack of a second council member willing to vote to bring it up for discussion.
The ballot measure, commonly known as ‘Amendment 4’, is on the November Fifth General Election Ballot. If 60% of voters approve the amendment, it would stop the state government from creating any law to “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.”
SEE THE BALLOT LANGUAGE FOR AMENDMENT 4 HERE
Okaloosa County’s Board of County Commissioners and several other counties and cities in Florida have passed a similar resolution to oppose the legislation publicly. Stauffer, the Pastor of Faith Independent Baptist Church in Niceville, noted that he had religious objections to abortion – but added that in his role as a city councilperson, his concerns centered around the finances. “If you look at the financial impact statement that will be included,” Stauffer said, “it says this amendment may negatively affect the growth of local revenues. I’m not going to read the whole thing. The fiscal impact on state and local revenues, cost cannot be estimated with precision.”
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“I talked to Carolyn Ketchel today. She presented me with the one that was presented by the County Commission there in Okaloosa. She said she believes it will lead to infanticide, meaning after the birth of the child, it will extend out into that. I don’t see it myself yet, but it could be there. I trust her,” Stauffer said.
An earlier version of this story said that Stauffer agreed with what he said Ketchel told him about infanticide. He did not say he agreed with Ketchel. We regret the error.
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After the motion died for lack of a second, two men came up from the viewing gallery of the Niceville City Council chambers, in between comments from citizens who wanted to discuss park publicity and road safety, to voice their chagrin with the council for not taking up the measure.
David Bell, of Baker told the council that they had abdicated their constitutional duty to the unborn by failing to discuss the amendment. “many of us grew up hearing in history class [about the] monsters of yesteryear, hearing I’m sorry, hearing of history class of monsters of yesteryear, dictators who murdered millions, Mr. Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, Mao, Trotsky and the like. We demonize these men. So my question is, how did these wicked men force such evil upon millions of people? But before you, before you can justify murder of millions, you must first dehumanize those you’re about to murder, those you’re about to oppress. This is how these men did such evil the dehumanize the ones they murdered.”
Another man, Robert Copeland of Niceville, accused the council of not performing the city’s business in accordance with the wishes of the residents of the city. “How can we not, as a city, take a stand for what is right,” he asked rhetorically.
According to Yes on 4, there are more than 200 organizations that have publicly endorsed the Amendment 4 campaign to guarantee a right to an abortion in Florida. Some of those groups include the ACLU, Florida Rising, Planned Parenthood, Women’s Voices of SWFL, Florida Women’s Freedom Coalition, and 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East. According to Ballotpedia, President Joe Biden, Congresswoman Frederica S. Wilson, State Senator Lauren Book and State Senator Jason Pizzo, all Democrats, have endorsed the Campaign.
According to Ballotpedia, other groups who Campaigned on Yes on 4’s Campaign include
Governor Ron DeSantis has publicly backed the Campaign to defeat Amendment 4 in this election cycle. Florida Politics quoted him as saying, “You don’t even have to have a medical license to be able to be greenlighting late-term abortions all the way up to the moment of birth. That’s insane. I don’t think any other state has done that. … That cannot be undone by legislation if that is to pass.”
Other opponents of Amendment 4, according to Ballotpedia, are:
According to Ballotpedia, the pro-Amerndment 4 forces have amassed ten times the amount of money ($51.4Campaignn) for this Campaign than the groups who oppose Amendment 4 ($5.33 Million). The latest polling from Emerson College and The Hill, has 55% support, 26% opposition and 20% undecided on the amendment. Polls in the last two months register between 55% and 69 percent support for the amendment. To become law, the measure would need to garner 60% of the vote.
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