Abortion amendment supporters raise over $4 million

A political committee leading efforts to pass a constitutional amendment to protect abortion rights in Florida raised $4.192 million in cash and received $554,000 in in-kind contributions from July 1 through Sept. 30, according to a newly filed finance report.

The Floridians Protecting Freedom committee had raised a total of $8.91 million in cash and nearly $826,000 in in-kind contributions as of Sept. 30.

Cash and in-kind contributions from July 1 through Sept. 30 included $1.832 million from Planned Parenthood organizations, according to a Florida Division of Elections database. The committee had spent $8.792 million as of Sept. 30.

The proposed constitutional amendment would bar laws that restrict abortion “before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.”

Floridians Protecting Freedom needs to submit at least 891,523 valid petition signatures to the state by Feb. 1 to get on the November 2024 ballot. It also needs approval from the Florida Supreme Court of the proposed ballot wording.

The Division of Elections website Wednesday morning showed 402,082 valid signatures for the abortion measure. 

Adult-use pot measure added $500,000 to its coffers

In other fundraising news, the medical-cannabis company Trulieve has added $500,000 to a ballot initiative aimed at legalizing recreational use of marijuana, bringing its total contributions to $39.55 million, according to a newly filed finance report.

Trulieve has contributed all but $124.58 of the money raised by the political committee Smart & Safe Florida, which is leading the initiative. The committee had spent $39.545 million as of Sept. 30, the report posted on the state Division of Elections website showed.

The proposed “Adult Personal Use of Marijuana” constitutional amendment would allow people 21 or older “to possess, purchase, or use marijuana products and marijuana accessories for non-medical personal consumption by smoking, ingestion, or otherwise.”

Smart & Safe Florida has collected enough petition signatures to put the measure on the November 2024 ballot but needs Florida Supreme Court approval of the proposed wording.

Justices are scheduled to hold a hearing Nov. 8. Florida voters in 2016 approved a constitutional amendment that broadly allowed medical marijuana.