October 22, 2024
According to BallotPedia, "160 statewide ballot measures have been certified for the ballot in 41 states for elections in 2024." All but 13 of these will be on the November 5 ballot.
Although there are six ballot measures in my state of Florida, most of the media attention has been on just two of them. Amendment 3 legalizes the recreational use of marijuana. Amendment 4 provides for a state constitutional right to abortion before fetal viability. A 60 percent supermajority vote of approval is required to pass a constitutional amendment in Florida.
The recreational use of marijuana is now legal in 24 states and the District of Columbia. In fourteen instances, this was done via a ballot measure. Florida voters approved legalizing medical marijuana in 2016.
The ballot summary of Amendment 3 reads:
Allows adults 21 years or older to possess, purchase, or use marijuana products and marijuana accessories for non-medical personal consumption by smoking, ingestion, or otherwise; allows Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers, and other state licensed entities, to acquire, cultivate, process, manufacture, sell, and distribute such products and accessories. Applies to Florida law; does not change, or immunize violations of, federal law. Establishes possession limits for personal use. Allows consistent legislation. Defines terms. Provides effective date.
Donald Trump has expressed support for the amendment while Gov. Ron DeSantis and former governor and current U.S. Sen. Rick Scott have made known their opposition. Scott offered this lame excuse for his opposition: "I know that marijuana is a gateway drug. My brother just died in the last few months, starting with marijuana and he ended up struggling with alcohol and drugs, so I don't support it."
After the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022) case that reversed Roe v. Wade (1971) and returned the abortion issue to the states (where it belongs), abortion measures began to appear on state ballots. There are 11 abortion-related measures on the November 5 ballot-10 to expand state constitutional rights to abortion (Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New York, Nevada, and South Dakota) and 1 to limit the timeframe for when an abortion can be performed.
During the time of Roe v. Wade, abortions were legal in Florida up to 24 weeks. After Roe v. Wade, abortions were banned after 15 weeks. Just this year, abortions were banned after 6 weeks, with exceptions for the life of the mother and survivors of rape, incest, or human trafficking.
The ballot summary of Amendment 4 reads:
No law shall 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. This amendment does not change the Legislature's constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion.
The following language would be added to the Florida constitution: "Except as provided in Article X, Section 22, no law shall 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."
Naturally, President Joe Biden, the ACLU, and Planned Parenthood support the amendment. The amendment is opposed by Donald Trump, Sen. Rick Scott, Gov. Ron DeSantis, and the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops.
I don't vote, but if I voted, I would certainly vote in favor of Amendment 3 and against Amendment 4. And I say this regarding both amendments as a culturally and theologically conservative Christian. The U.S. Proxy War in... Buy New $5.95
Voting against Amendment 4 is a no-brainer. "Viability" can mean different things to different people. Who decides when it is "necessary to protect the patient's health"? Not the government. Not a physician. Not a hospital. The "patient's healthcare provider." And what does "protect the patient's health" mean? Kamala Harris and the vast majority of Democrats believe that abortion itself is healthcare.
Voting in favor of Amendment 3 is likewise a no-brainer-no matter how one personally feels about marijuana. In fact, one could believe (falsely) that marijuana is a destructive, dangerous, and deadly gateway drug that causes all manner of behavioral and mental disorders, and that marijuana use is evil, immoral, and sinful and still vote in favor of Amendment 3.
Liberty is something that Americans say they cherish. In a free society, individual liberty has to include the right to do anything that's peaceful as long as one does not violate the liberty of another. Anything less is not a free society. In a free society, the government does not try to keep people from enjoying marijuana or from harming themselves with marijuana. Voting in favor of Amendment 3 is voting for a free society. It is not voting for a particular view of marijuana.
There is nothing contradictory about voting in favor of Amendment 3 and against Amendment 4.