In recent weeks, there have been a number of reports that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has been abusing his administrative powers and spending unprecedented state resources in a religiously motivated bid to quash Amendment 4, a ballot measure that would overturn the state’s six-week abortion ban and enshrine reproductive health care access in Florida’s state constitution.
The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, which DeSantis oversees, launched a website alleging the initiative “threatens women’s safety” and is paying for public service announcements urging Floridians to vote no on the measure. Under the governor’s direction, state police visited voters’ homes to interrogate them about signing the initiative’s petition. And earlier this month, television stations across Florida received cease-and-desist letters threatening jail time if they continued to air an advertisement in support of the amendment.
Those letters were signed by John Wilson, who at the time was working as the department’s general counsel but has since resigned and become something of a whistleblower. Wilson alleges it was DeSantis’ top advisors who developed the legal strategy, drafted the letters, and pressured him into signing them. He was also “directed” to “execute contracts for outside counsel” to assist in censoring their political opponents. It’s been reported those contracts will cost Florida taxpayers up to $1.4 million.
Last week, U.S. District Judge Mark Walker issued a preliminary injunction against the DeSantis administration and didn’t mince words in his ruling: “To keep it simple for the State of Florida: it’s the First Amendment, stupid.”
Undeterred by constitutional constraints, DeSantis has continued to hold a series of campaign-like rallies with anti-abortion doctors across the state. At one of these events on Monday — the first day for early voting here in Florida — Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nuñez told attendees, “We cannot go to church and pray like Christians and turn around and vote like atheists.” The Associated Press reported that because she and DeSantis are appearing at these “press conferences” in their official capacities, state resources are being used for planning and travel.
I can’t be entirely sure what Nuñez meant by her comment, other than to say the quiet part out loud: Banning abortion is about forcing a single, narrow religious stance on the rest of us. Did she intend to insult us atheists in a “you throw like a girl” kind of way, and/or is she implying that real Christians can’t be pro-choice? Respectively, I’m not offended, and that’s not true.
To “vote like atheists” doesn’t mean much, since we atheists aren’t a monolith, but it could mean a few things, none of which are bad. For one thing, we’re popular! As you might’ve heard, we Nones now outnumber Catholics and evangelical Protestants.
Plus, Americans who identify as atheists or agnostics are more likely to vote than people who are affiliated with a religion. Go us! A recent report from Arizona Christian University projected that 104 million “people of faith,” including 32 million Christian churchgoers, are planning not to vote in the November election. 68% said a “lack of interest” was the reason.
In its newly-released 2024 State of the Bible report (an excerpt of which is pictured above), even the American Bible Society had to admit: “Here’s a surprise. In our survey of pro-social behaviors, the ‘Nones’ outscore everyone else in the importance they ascribe to these actions,” which the authors say are “essential for the success of a free community.”
This Floridian is proud to “vote like atheists” since that apparently means a) voting and b) supporting evidence-based policies and compassionate candidates.
Abortion bans are neither compassionate nor rooted in evidence. That’s probably why a solid majority of Americans continue to support access and oppose restrictions. Most “people of faith” believe abortion should be legal, and research has also consistently shown the majority of Americans who obtain an abortion are religiously affiliated. We also know from American Atheists’ own U.S. Secular Survey that protecting access to abortion and contraception is a top priority for many nonreligious Americans.
Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, six states have already voted on ballot initiatives like Florida’s Amendment 4, and the side supporting access has won every time. Not all Americans will get that chance, though. In more than a dozen states where Americans are living under restrictive abortion laws, there is no citizen initiative process.
If, like I do, you live in one of the ten states with the opportunity to protect abortion access this November, I encourage you to get out and vote. Just be sure not to get confused by strange ballot language! Check in with your American Atheists State Director or another trusted nonprofit in your area for nonpartisan voter guides and other election resources.
From Florida,
Devon Graham
Chair, Florida Secular Advocacy Team
Assistant State Director for Tallahassee, American Atheists
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