VENICE — Bishop Frank J. Dewane of the Diocese of Venice in Florida is urging people to vote against Florida’s Amendment 4, which would expand women’s rights to have an abortion.
In a recently released video, Dewane calls the proposal a “misleading and deceptive amendment” that he says would be “dangerous for full-term babies, women and girls.”
He said the new law would allow abortions in the second and third trimester, whereas Florida’s current Heartbeat Protection Law does not allow an abortion after the sixth week.
He also said he does not like the fact that the new law says a “patient’s health” can be taken into consideration but does not define what “patient’s health” means.
“The amendment weakens the current medical doctor requirement, allowing ‘health care providers,’ not just physicians, to determine if an abortion is necessary to protect the mother’s health,” he said. “This is dangerous for women.”
He said Amendment 4 also allows minors to get an abortion without parental approval. The amendment says that parents simply need to be notified, he said.