Super Bowl champion and NFL Hall of Famer Tony Dungy is used to winning. However, on Thursday night, he celebrated a victory far more meaningful than anything decided by a game.
As President-Elect Trump and many Republican candidates won election victories throughout the country Thursday night, an important victory was also won to protect the lives of the unborn in the state of Florida, as Floridians struck down Amendment 4, a ballot measure that would have legalized abortion up until birth.
In addition, Dungy lauded the defeat of Amendment 3, which would have legalized marijuana.
Dungy, an outspoken advocate against the measure, celebrated the “victory for babies” on social media.
“The polls are closed in Florida, and Amendment 3 and Amendment 4 both failed to pass,” he wrote on X.
“Thank you to all the Florida residents who helped to protect the lives of the unborn. And we want people to realize that those expectant mothers who need help will still be able to get it. Pregnant women with health risks can get treatment. The exceptions for rape and incest are still in place. But this is a victory for babies.”
Supporters of Florida’s Amendment 4 publicly argued for the measure as a response to Florida’s six-week abortion ban. A law many abortion advocates believed to be unduly restrictive and harsh. However, as Dungy pointed out in his video opposing the measure, Amendment 4 contained language that would clear the way for abortion up until “viability,” in other words, birth.
“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,” the amendment’s language stated.
The defeat of a state-wide pro-abortion amendment caused many anti-abortion advocates to declare it a major victory. While it was a major victory, the measure only failed because it needed 60% of the vote. In the final tally, 57% of Floridians voted for the measure, while 43% voted against it.
So, while a significant victory, the pro-life movement clearly has a lot of heavy lifting still to do if a radical pro-abortion amendment can get 57% of the vote in what has – at least in recent years -been a reliable red state.
