Commission votes 4-1 to oppose abortion amendment and encourage voters to do the same
BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
As if the fire assessment seat wasn’t hot enough, Bradford County commissioners decided to enter the debate over abortion access in Florida last week.
Commissioners voted 4-1 to approve a resolution condemning Amendment 4 as a “misleading” and “pro-abortion” amendment and encouraging all Bradford County voters to vote against it.
The ballot summary for 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.”
Among the county resolution’s claims is that “pro-abortion organizations including Planned Parenthood and the ACLU have spent millions and deceived thousands to garner the required number of petition signatures to place a pro-abortion constitutional amendment, titled ‘Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion,’ on the November 2024 statewide ballot.”
The resolution calls language of the amendment, including “age of viability” and “health of the mother,” misleading with the goal to “enshrine abortion on demand in the Florida Constitution.”
Commission Chairwoman Carolyn Spooner opposed the resolution, saying the board “should not take up and promote a particular party’s viewpoint.” She said the resolution’s language was controversial, hostile, offensive and “not factual.”
“I may choose as a Christian, as a minister, to oppose it, but I know in reality, sometimes extenuating circumstances occur in a person’s life where they may have to make that unthinkable choice,” Spooner said. She gave an example of an adolescent who became pregnant as the result of rape while incapacitated in a medical facility. The resulting medical complications could have killed her had someone not been able to act on her behalf and make a difficult choice.
Spooner said board members should not use their place on the dais to impose their moral values on anyone. Deciding for oneself how to vote is one of “the blessings about America,” she said.
Commissioner Danny Riddick said the resolution was based on examples provided to him from other jurisdictions by a constituent.
“Abortion is not a form of birth control. Period. A baby is a special gift from God. Period. The Bible says in Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.” Man or woman does not have anything to do with creating babies. God created that baby,” he said.
He went on to cite scripture about obedience and the shedding of “innocent blood.”
“This is what God says. Period. I mean, there is no question. There is no argument. This is what God says. And with that, I make a motion that we approve the resolution opposing the pro-abortion amendment to Florida constitution,” he said.
Commissioner Chris Dougherty seconded the motion and voted in favor along with Riddick and commissioners Kenny Thompson and Diane Andrews, who said the board voting on the resolution did “bother” her. “Everyone has to choose for themselves,” she said. At the same time, she said as a Christian she believed what Riddick said was true.
Several speakers spoke for and against the county commission taking a stand, including Bonnie Coffey Cannone from Lake City, who founded a political committee to fight the amendment. She said the issue is not about women’s rights, but the right to life of every “innocent human being.”
“You, as civil magistrates, are elected by the people, but your authority is granted to you by God, and you are charged not only with protecting all of your constituents but wielding the sword of justice against evildoers. It is therefore your solemn duty to condemn this amendment, which has your tiniest citizens directly in its crosshairs,” she said.
Marshall Clayton Rawson of Hampton, who shared the resolution with Riddick, said if Amendment 4 passes, Florida will become “a hotspot for abortion tourism.”
“We’re talking about the most innocent and most vulnerable of society,” he said, adding that government leaders unwilling to protect them are unfit to serve.
Brandon Elixson of Lake Butler said “government was instituted by God” and cannot be neutral when it comes to protecting those made in his image.
“While it is the custom of those that hold political office — and for good reason — to listen to the voices of their constituents and attempt to make the best decisions possible, to be representatives for them and to work towards the good of the land, ultimately, I’m here today to represent those voices that are too small to be heard, those voices that may never see the light of day if this amendment is passed at the constitutional level here in Florida.,” he said.
Kate Ellison of Melrose said she was dismayed the commission was considering the resolution.
“One of the things that people in Bradford County have impressed on me is that we do things differently. Here we value community and working together to make things better. In Bradford, we all pull together rather than retreat into our red or blue corners to call each other names,” she said.
For Ellison, abortion is not a favorite topic because it is so divisive. She said it’s a private matter.
“The wording of your resolution is straight out of the Republican talking points, and it directs the board to tell the voters, to tell me, how to vote. I don’t know, but I think it’s unprecedented, and it’s really uncalled for. The party that usually wants to limit government to minimize Big Brother’s intrusion into our lives, is telling me how to mark my ballot,” she said.
The resolution also states the “iniquitous amendment would remove the possibility of prosecuting and holding accountable those that seek to shed innocent blood.”
“Apparently, you want to arrest and prosecute me for having an abortion and maybe my doctor, too. Apparently, you want us to resort to back-alley illegal abortions, because outlawing them has never made them go away,” she said.
Also speaking against the resolution was Vyunda Strong of Lawtey.
“People talk about the innocent lives, but nobody talks about the people that it starts with, and it starts with the woman,” Strong said. “I really am passionate about this issue, but I’m passionate because I’m really tired of people being in my vagina. People need to stay out of my vagina.”
It’s individuals who will be “standing before God,” she said.
