Heavily funded, radical, pro-abortion groups have placed the misleading Amendment 4 on the ballot this November. The BALLOT SUMMARY of the amendment reads as follows:

“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.”

AMENDMENT 4 IS DELIBERATELY DECEPTIVE!

It is not what it seems! It will enshrine abortion until birth as a fundamental right in Florida’s constitution for virtually any reason up to nine months of pregnancy – even when babies can feel pain – yet the misleading language hides this reality.

“No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion.”

This language would legally trump and invalidate commonsense laws in Florida regulating abortion, including clinic safety and cleanliness regulations, ultrasound requirements, informed consent, and the 24-hour waiting period. Abortion would become the only medical service completely exempt from any legal medical safety and health accountability requirements and protocols meant to protect women’s health and safety.

DELIBERATE CONFUSION
Key terms in the amendment such as viability, health, and healthcare provider are not defined at all anywhere in the amendment summary or text. This is unprecedented. Most ballot initiatives provide extensive definitions and guidelines in order to establish legal clarity. But the lack of definitions in Amendment 4 will inevitably create massive legal confusion and years of countless lawsuits while leaving the people’s elected representatives powerless to do anything. Amendment 4 allows for an abortion up until birth for any “health” reason at the absolute discretion of an undefined “healthcare provider.” Again, the word “health” is not defined, which would create a broad array of conditions that could be used to justify late-term abortions, including headaches, nausea, cramping, and discomfort, and could include emotional or psychological factors like stress or anxiety.

As well, the term “healthcare provider” is also undefined in the amendment. Under Florida law, the term “healthcare practitioner” includes a host of non-medical doctors, such as acupuncturists, nurses, pharmacists, and physical therapists. This means even non medical doctor employees of abortion clinics could be allowed to prescribe and perform late-term abortions putting women’s lives at risk!

Finally, while it claims to provide for “parental notification,” the amendment it fails to mention that parental consent laws would be gutted, allowing minor girls to obtain even late-term abortions, without their parents’ consent!

Visit VoteNoOn4Florida.com for more information, and to help spread the word about this dangerous amendment.

The post Florida Voters: Warning! Beware of the extreme, deceptive, and dangerous abortion until birth Amendment 4 on the November ballot! appeared first on Florida Family Action.

“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 amendment is very extreme and deceptive. It would enshrine abortion as a fundamental right in Florida’s constitution and allow abortions for virtually any reason up to nine months of pregnancy.  

The amendment is also dangerous because it would legally trump and invalidate almost every commonsense law in Florida regulating abortion, including parental consent, clinic safety regula­tions, and the 24-hour waiting period.  

The amendment language is highly deceptive and not what it seems to be. It appears to allow lawmakers to restrict or stop late-term abortions after viability. But it also allows for abortion on demand for any “health” reason at the absolute discretion of any health provider. This term could be an acupuncturist, nurse, pharmacist, or physical therapist.  

The word “health” is extremely broad in the context of abortion case law. It can include any condition, including headaches, nausea, cramping, anxiety, and discomfort, and can include  “emotional, psychological, familial” factors.  

The use of the term “viability” is also problematic because this concept is a moving target based on technology, and no clear definition of viability exists. 

The post Beware of the Extreme, Deceptive, and Dangerous Abortion-On-Demand Amendment Circulating Florida appeared first on Florida Family Action.

We need your help to let the school know your concerns with these drag events. Making this available for children to participate in is grotesque and damaging.

These shows are often filled with sexually explicit content not fit for children to see. Adult entertainers, cross-dressers and strippers have absolutely no place being exposed and promoted to children.

Reports indicate that the school even announced and promoted this to the entire student body over the intercom.

Email the contacts below and protect our children. Please email the following contacts to let your voices be heard and to put a stop to events like these:

Principal: hector.maestre@ocps.net

Chief of HS: jose.martinez@ocps.net

Superintendent: Dr. Maria Vazquez – supt@ocps.net

School Board: Alicia.farrant@ocps.net

Board Chair: Teresa.Jacobs@ocps.net

Parental rights at the Florida Department of Education: ParentalRights@fldoe.org

The post ACTION ALERT: Protect Our Children – Boone High School is hosting a Drag and Donuts event in Orlando appeared first on Florida Family Action.

We need you to attend and testify or submit written opinions on (Rule #6A-7.0715) to the State Board of Education meeting in Fernandina Beach, Wednesday, January 18th – 9 am.

The Florida State Board of education is in the process of developing Library Media Training. This training will be required for librarians and media specialist in Florida public school for grades K-12.

Most of this training is a good start toward ridding our schools of inappropriate materials, however, there are some areas that still need attention. You can view the Library Media Training here.

It would be tremendously helpful if you took a couple of minutes to write a Public Comment before the meeting. In an effort to have each comment stand out from the next and have maximum impact, we are encouraging everyone to compose their own using the talking points. You can access talking points here.

Please consider attending the Florida BOE meeting this Wednesday or, if you are unable to attend, submit written opinions here (Rule #6A-7.0715) to address the areas of the training that still leave room for inappropriate material in our schools.

The State Board of Education is meeting and taking the testimony of citizens on:

Wednesday, January 18, 2023, at 9:00 am

Nassau County School Board Office
1201 Atlantic Avenue
Fernandina Beach, FL 32034

The board’s meeting agenda can be found here. (See Action Item #8)

Unfortunately, the opponents of this training are mobilizing their forces to speak out against the Board’s intent to enact this new training. 

It is important that the State Board of Education hear loudly and clearly from advocates for this training at Wednesday’s Board meeting. They need to know we support and appreciate their efforts.

Florida Family Action
4853 S. Orange Ave, Suite C, Orlando, FL  32806
Info@FloridaFamilyAction.org    *    Phone:  407-418-0250

The post ACTION ALERT: We need you to attend, testify or submit written opinions on (Rule #6A-7.0715) appeared first on Florida Family Action.

We’re in the final days.

The tumultuous 2022 midterm election season is upon us.

Across the nation – and across Florida – voters are making decisions that will impact the next two years of life.

Will voters stick with faith, family, and freedom, or stay home and allow their apathy to give a foothold to radical, leftist agendas?

Florida Family Action is resolved to keep a heavy foot on the gas pedal all the way through election day, next Tuesday, November 8th.

Our endorsed candidates – from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Marco Rubio – all the way to Congressional candidates, legislative candidates, and judges – are facing major electoral tests.

We have the infrastructure in place to provide assistance in the closing moments of these races. Your support of FFA this month may well make the difference between wins and losses for Florida families.

We aren’t just making expenditures in support of pro-family candidates,  we’ve also done painstaking research to make informed endorsements in these races.

In fact, we’ve created a state-wide Judicial Voter Guide, (which can be accessed here)  to help you know which judges support the constitution – and by extension, your values – and which judges would prefer to rewrite our laws to suit their radical goals and leftist agendas.
(See below for ALL of our voter guides.)

I’m confident that your partnership will make the difference.

We can’t be satisfied with the status quo in Tallahassee.

Yes, we’re thrilled to have a governor who supports marriage, life, religious liberty, and parental rights – boldly.

Yes, we’re thrilled that we have members of our federal delegation who have stood strong against Pelosi and Schumer’s radical plans for America.

Yes, we’re thrilled that we have conservative majorities in the Florida House and Senate.

But those things don’t remain in place by default. And we don’t want those majorities to stay the same – we want them to GROW.

We’re taking an ambitious agenda to Tallahassee in March – including several items that, if passed, will ensure that the tenets of Roe v. Wade are never reality again in the Sunshine State.

Unlike direct contributions in legislative and congressional races, there is no limit to the investment you can make in Florida Family Action’s electoral efforts.

Each dollar we raise between now and next Tuesday, November 8th will be spent in pursuit of these three specific purposes:

1. We will defend our most vulnerable pro-family candidates;

2. We will cultivate ground to win new ground in friendly, pro-family areas; and

3. We will finalize our agenda and defenses for the legislative agenda we’ll carry into our Capitol in March.

While not tax-deductible, your support of Florida Family Action allows us to do election work that Florida Family Policy Council cannot, by IRS regulation, do.

We’re confident that, together, we will prevail around the state.

To Victory!

John Stemberger
President and General Counsel
Florida Family Action

P.S. Our voter guides are an enormous, costly project. Your generous gift will help us with the cost of producing these valuable guides. Please give now. Thank you!

Access our Voter Guides Here

The post Time-sensitive information & resources for the upcoming election… appeared first on Florida Family Action.

We need your help to speak out on parents’ rights, educational freedom and transparency right now. The Florida State Board of Education, the governmental agency tasked with implementing and enforcing education policy in Florida, is going to be considering three different administrative rules to strengthen parents’ rights in Florida K-12 public schools this coming Wednesday.

The full State Board of Education is meeting

And taking the testimony of citizens on:

Wednesday, October 19, 2022, at 9:00 am

Caribe Royale Orlando

Grand Sierra Ballroom E

8101 World Center Dr, Orlando, FL 32821

The board’s meeting agenda can be found here: https://www.fldoe.org/policy/state-board-of-edu/meetings/2022/2022-10-19/

If you are able to attend, please come and speak at the meeting in favor of Items 3, 7, and 10 during the “Action Item” part of the meeting. Items 3, 7, and 10 are several of the Proposed Board Rules. Here are some talking points to use for each:

Item 3 – Parental Notification for Bathrooms, Locker Room, Dressing Rooms – This provision will protect the fundamental rights of K-12 parents to ensure they are fully informed of how bathrooms are designated and how locker rooms, which include dressing rooms, are designated and supervised. In light of the politicized transgender movement, school districts who choose to allow boys to use girls’ restrooms or publicly undress in front of young ladies in the girls’ locker rooms or vice versa must be required to publicly notify parents of such arrangements. Parents must have the knowledge to make the best decisions on keeping their children safe. Transparency must be held as paramount in public education.

Item 7 – Principles of Professional Conduct for the Education Profession in Florida – This proposal will authorize the state Education Commissioner to take disciplinary action against the license of an educator who violates state law by providing classroom instruction to students in kindergarten through grade 3 on sexual orientation or gender identity, or who provides instruction promoting the concepts underlying Critical Race Theory to students in any grade. Teachers should focus on the education of students, not political indoctrination, and any teachers who veer from that goal should be held accountable for their violations. Parents must have confidence that the classroom is a place of teaching academics, not pushing political agendas.

Item 10 – Elementary School Website Listing of Library Materials and Reading Lists – This proposal prescribes the format for the posting on the website of each elementary school of materials maintained in elementary school library media centers, found on an elementary school required reading list, or found in an elementary school classroom. This provision is necessary to increase transparency of the library resources available in public libraries for parents and concerned citizens to be able to access. This safeguard will be yet another tool for parents to be able to hold the school districts accountable for what books are in public libraries.

For those people who cannot attend the October 19 meeting in person, but want to provide the SBE with their public comment, they can go to the “State Board Rules Under Review” webpage at: https://web02.fldoe.org/rules/Default and leave their public comment for each proposed rule. 

NOTE:  These written comments must be submitted by 12:00 noon on Tuesday, October 18, so that the Board members will receive the comments before the October 19 Board meeting.

Here’s how to leave a public comment for each rule:

1.    Find the “Rule Number” and “Rule Title” you want to comment on in the two far-left columns. (Item 3 is Rule # 6A-10.086; Item 7 is Rule # 6A-10.081; Item 10 is Rule # 6A-7.0713)

2.    Click on “Submit Comment” in the far-right column for the rule you want to make a comment. 

   Fill out the form with your name, address, email, and type your comment in the comment box. (See the talking points above for points to address for each action item) Then click “Submit Request.”

Your comment for that Item will then be submitted to the Board. This will allow you to show your support for Action Items 3, 7, and 10 on the Board’s October 19 meeting agenda.

Unfortunately, it appears the opponents of parents’ rights in Florida K-12 schools are mobilizing their forces to speak out against the Board’s intent to protect, make clear, and expand parents’ rights for those with children who attend Florida K-12 public schools. It is important that the State Board of Education hear loudly and clearly from advocates for parents’ rights, student safety, and common sense at Wednesday’s Board meeting. They need to know we support and appreciate their efforts.

The post ACTION ALERT: We Need You To Attend & Testify at the State Board of Education Meeting Tomorrow in Orlando appeared first on Florida Family Action.

Melbourne Mayor Paul Alfrey Caught Gas Lighting and Lying to Citizens Who Called Him.  He told Citizens Our Claim that there will be a Drag Queen Story Time is “Baseless and Completely False”

The event has now been documented & scheduled with details online this Saturday. Please call and write the Mayor (and the other members of the City Council) again and give him the facts and tell them to pull the permit for the event. 

Please continue to call & email the Mayor and now also the City of Melbourne Commissioners who have given official permission through a permit by the City to LGBTQ activists to conduct a “Drag Queen Story Hour” targeting small children as part of the “Space Coast Pride Event” this Saturday, September 24, 2022. 

Drag Queen Story Time will take place during the Pride festival on the Spotlight Stage. Story times will take place at 1 p.m. with Momma Ashley Rose, 2:30 p.m. with Shelita Taylor, and 4:30 p.m. with Bridgette Galore.  See the schedule which includes a “kid zone” here:

Instructions to take action now below:

This is outrageous and needs to be stopped. 

WE MUST PROTECT CHILDREN.

These activities expose our children to sexualized behaviors and highly inappropriate conduct.

Call first and then also email the Mayor of Melbourne and every member of the City Council and tell them to “pull the permit to conduct these activities!”

Melbourne Mayor Paul Alfrey
321- 508-4339
Paul.alfrey@mlbfl.org

District 1 Council Member Tim Thomas
321-223-1016
Tim.Thomas@mlbfl.org

District 2 Council Member Mark LaRusso
321-432-3841 
mark.larusso@mlbfl.org

District 3 Council Member Yvonne Minus
321-591-7054
Yvonne.Minus@mlbfl.org

District 4 Council Member Debbie Thomas
321-508-7171 
Debbie.Thomas@mlbfl.org

District 5 Council Member Mimi Hanley
321-290-2712
mimi.hanley@mlbfl.org

Vice Mayor and District 6 Council Member Julie Sanders
321-290-6110  
julie.sanders@mlbfl.org

The post BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: Mayor Paul Alfrey caught lying to citizens contacting him. Drag Queen Story Time documented to go down this Saturday. appeared first on Florida Family Action.

Contact Melbourne Officials & Tell them to Shut Down “Drag Queen Story Time”
Planned for Children this Saturday

City of Melbourne leaders are giving official permission to LGBTQ activists to conduct a “Drag Queen Story Hour” targeting small children as part of the “Space Coast Pride Event” this Saturday, September 24, 2022. 

The stated and stunning purpose of the story time event is to “capture the play of the gender fluidity of childhood” and will be performed before pre-school and elementary aged children.

State Rep. Randy Fine documented this in a letter to the City Manager Shannon Lewis in which the city was trying to hide the details of these activities. 

The Mayor Paul Alfrey has been heard to say that he “welcomes the event.”

This is outrageous and needs to be stopped. 

WE MUST PROTECT CHILDREN.

These activities expose our children to sexualized behaviors and highly inappropriate conduct.

Call first and then also email the Mayor of Melbourne and the City Manager and tell them to “pull the permit to conduct these activities!”

Shannon Lewis
City Manager
Shannon.Lewis@mlbfl.org
321-608-7000

Mayor Paul Alfrey
Mayor of Melbourne
(321) 508-4339
Paul.alfrey@mlbfl.org

Below is also a list of the Corporate Sponsors of Drag Queen Story Time for Children. Feel free to let others know about this.

The post Contact Melbourne Officials & Tell them to Shut Down “Drag Queen Story Time” Planned for Children this Saturday appeared first on Florida Family Action.

For Immediate Release:

Florida Family Action Releases
Statement on Its Process for Researching
& Recommending Appellate Court Judges:

In determining whether to recommend a YES or NO vote in Merit Retention races for Florida Appellate Judges, Florida Family Action’s staff undertakes an extensive research process that involves a team of lawyers, law clerks, research assistants, and hundreds of hours of work. 

The primary focus of the research is to ascertain the judge’s legal or judicial philosophy. Secondarily, experience, fairness, efficiency, and temperament are additional factors.  Finally, personal character, reputation, and integrity issues are also weighed in the process. 

Our research process includes the following:

1)   Review of Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) applications.

2)   Watching available JNC video judicial candidate interviews.

3)   Determining judicial philosophy by reading written legal opinions, noting majority and dissenting opinions.

4)   Open internet searches for news and other relevant information on the judge, including speeches, articles written, or other news stories.

5)   Social media searches about the judge and or the judge’s immediate family members.

6)   Online client and lawyer reviews at judge rating websites.

7)   Confidential interviews with lawyers and judges who know and can speak to the candidate’s reputation and character.

8)   Searches for records of past or present lawyer or judge disciplinary proceedings.

9)   Review of past or present local bar association ratings.

10)  Review of past law firm websites or judge campaign websites.

11)  Searches for evidence of personal financial contributions and or support of community, charitable, advocacy, or religious organizations.

12)  Pulling voting records for political party affiliation and record of voting regularity.

13)  Review of Florida Bar Judicial Candidate Voluntary Self-Disclosure Statements.

14)  Background searches for past criminal records, bankruptcies, consumer debt, traffic violations, divorces, lawsuits filed by the judge in a personal capacity, or lawsuits filed against the judge.

15)  Research on what type of law clerks the judge employed.

Trial court judges and appellate court judges are evaluated in a slightly different way. Judicial philosophy and personal convictions are weighed as more critical for appellate court judges.

For trial court judges, practical issues like experience, demeanor and fairness are weighed more heavily. Character, reputation and integrity are also factors used to weigh the ratings and recommendations for all judicial candidates. 

In 2005, our flagship sister group Florida Family Policy Council, retained constitutional attorney Jim Bopp and sued the Florida Bar and the Judicial Ethics Advisory Commission (JEAC) over the gag order contained in the Judicial Canons, which prevents judge candidates from announcing their views on disputed legal or political issues. This lawsuit was based on the US Supreme Court case of Republican Party of Minnesota vs White where the court struck down that state’s judicial canon as a violation of the First Amendment’s Free Speech clause. The Florida case was unsuccessful but it did provoke enough debate by leaders within the Florida Bar to motivate the creation of the current Florida Bar Judicial Candidate Voluntary Self-Disclosure Statement in 2010.

Florida Family Action is the only advocacy group in Florida that researches and makes voter recommendations on every judicial race in all 67 county ballots, including County, Circuit Civil, District Courts of Appeal, and Florida Supreme Court.  For over 15 years, we have provided this service to our constituents and to the general public. 

The 2020 General Election Judicial Voter Guide can be downloaded here.

# # #

Florida Family Action
4853 S. Orange Ave, Suite C, Orlando, FL  32806
Info@FloridaFamilyAction.org    *    Phone:  407-418-0250.
DONATE

The post Florida Family Action Statement on Its Process for Researching & Recommending Appellate Court Judges appeared first on Florida Family Action.

GOVERNOR DESANTIS MAKES FIRST OF
THREE HISTORIC APPOINTMENTS TO
THE FLORIDA SUPREME COURT

Judge Barbara Lagoa of Miami to become the first
Cuban-American Woman on the Florida Supreme Court.

(Tallahassee, FL) Today, as his first very first act in office, Governor Ron DeSantis announced the appointment of Judge Barbara Lagoa, the first of three appointments which are expected to the Florida Supreme Court.  Judge Lagoa currently sits on the Third District Court of Appeals (DCA) in Miami.  The Third DCA is an appeals court between the trial court and the state supreme court.

Florida Family Policy Council President John Stemberger issued the following statement today regarding this appointment:

“Governor Ron DeSantis has made a simply outstanding choice in Barbara Lagoa for the Florida Supreme Court.  She is smart, thoughtful, and has a conservative judicial philosophy that appreciates the limited role of the court.  She is also deeply committed to her faith, her family and her community.  In the world of judicial appointments, Barbara Lagoa is a home run.  Governor DeSantis should be highly commended for a very thorough vetting process and a commitment to appoint such highly principled Justices as Barbara Lagoa.”

Judge Lagoa is the first of three appointments that Governor DeSantis will make to replace three of the court’s most liberal justices who termed out for mandatory retirement at age 70* yesterday on Tuesday, January 8, 2019. The retiring justices are Barbara Pariente (Lawton Chiles Appointment in 1997); Fred Lewis (Lawton Chiles Appointment in 1998); and Peggy Quince (Initially a Lawton Chiles appointee whom Jeb Bush also agreed to appoint on his first day of office in 1998).

During his inaugural address on Tuesday, Governor DeSantis forthrightly stated, “I say to you: judicial activism ends, right here and right now. I‘ll only appoint judges who understand the proper role of the courts is to apply the law and Constitution as written, not to legislate from the bench. The Constitution, not the judiciary, is supreme.”  Today’s appointment of Barbara Lagoa is evidence of this promise given Lagoa’s judicial philosophy.

Personal and Professional Bio on Judge Barbara Lagoa:

Judge Lagoa’s parents fled Cuba and she was born in Miami, Florida.  She has served on the Third District Court of Appeals in Miami for the past twelve years since being appointed to that court by Governor Jeb Bush in 2006.  Of all 59 applicants that applied to the Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission, Lagoa had the most appellate experience. Over her 12 years on the appellate bench, Judge Lagoa has heard more than 11,000 cases and issued more than 470 written opinions. Judge Lagoa was also the first Cuban American woman to serve on the Third District Court of Appeals and is fluent in both Spanish and English.  She received her Juris Doctorate from Columbia University. Her civil practice focused on general and complex commercial litigation, particularly the areas of employment discrimination, business torts, securities litigation, construction litigation, and insurance coverage disputes. She also served as Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of Florida. In this office, she worked in the Civil, Major Crimes and Appellate Sections. As an Assistant United States Attorney, she tried numerous criminal jury trials, including drug conspiracies and Hobbs Act violations.

Judge Lagoa has been a member of the Federalist Society for several years.  She has also been actively involved with Kristi House, an organization that provides treatment, advocacy, and coordination of services for all child victims of abuse and their families, as well as education and prevention services to end child abuse and sex trafficking. She is married to attorney Paul C. Huck, Jr. and is the mother of three children.  The Lagoa family are faithful Catholics and attend the Church of the Epiphany in Miami.

Judge Lagoa’s 144-page application to the Judicial Nominating Commission can be found here:

https://www-media.floridabar.org/uploads/2018/10/Lagoa-Barbara-1.pdf

Judge Lagoa’s interview with the Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission can be watched on video from 2:15 to 28:30 here:https://thefloridachannel.org/videos/11-4-18-florida-supreme-court-judicial-nominating-commission-part-1/

* NOTE: Florida voters passed Amendment 6 on November 6, 2018, which increased the mandatory retirement age of Florida judges from 70 to 75.  FFPC President John Stemberger, as a member of the 2018 Florida Constitution Revision Commission (CRC), co-sponsored the proposal which became Amendment 6.  This proposal/amendment ensured that the effective date of Amendment 6 took place on July 1, 2019, preventing it from affecting the judicial transitions in January 2019.

For more information contact:
Media@FLfamily.org
# # #

Florida Family Policy Council

4853 S. Orange Ave, Suite C, Orlando, FL 32806

Info@FLfamily.org  *  Phone:  407-251-5130

The post GOVERNOR DESANTIS APPOINTS BARBARA LAGOA TO FLORIDA SUPREME COURT appeared first on Florida Family Action.