Florida Senate Passes Anti-Abortion Ballot Amendment

The Florida Senate passed a proposed constitutional amendment banning public and insurance exchange funding. The vote passed by the 27 vote minimum. Unsurprisingly, the deciding vote was Democrat Gary Siplin. Joy-Ann Reid made the observation that Gary Siplin "votes more often with Republicans than any Democrat I've seen."

The law already prohibits state government funding for abortion. What the 2012 ballot amendment will do is rewrite Florida's privacy laws. This has nothing to do with the job creation Republicans promised when they won last year.

This is pandering to the Christian Right base. This is about voter turnout is 2012. Politically speaking, this is going to kill Republicans. Democrats will use the anti-abortion ballot amendment to swing women and young voters for Obama. Abortion isn't gay marriage in 2004. The more conservative South Dakota failed to ban abortion on a statewide ballot. The Florida Democratic Party may not be able to win elections. However, the DNC will be focused on Obama and Bill Nelson winning. Good luck trying to get 60 percent of voters to back an anti-abortion amendment in a state Obama won.

Side note: is Rick Scott and the Republicans in the Florida legislature going to suddenly get more poular and be able to tell women voters they have a right to regulate their bodies? I doubt it.