The heart-wrenching story of Deborah and Lee Dorbert’s pregnancy should serve as a wake-up call to every Floridian who values their right to privacy. It highlights the grave consequences of Florida’s recently passed abortion ban, and the moral imperative for citizens to come together and pass a proposed constitutional amendment to limit government interference in our private lives.

The Dorberts were 23 weeks into a wanted pregnancy when they received a grim diagnosis, a fetal abnormality called Potter’s syndrome. Their baby had no kidneys and no chance to survive for more than a few hours after birth. The Dorberts got a second opinion confirming the diagnosis before deciding to terminate the pregnancy since only pain and suffering would result in allowing it to continue. However, citing Florida’s recently enacted abortion restrictions, their obstetrician refused to end the pregnancy. If a doctor is found to have run afoul of Florida’s new abortion limits, they can be punished by up to five years in prison, plus steep fines, and legal costs. The Dorberts were forced, against their will, to carry a doomed pregnancy to term and then watch their newborn die after only a few breaths.

Let’s stop these injustices moving forward and ensure other couples do not suffer the same fate as the Dorberts. The recently launched ballot initiative campaign is an effort to amend Florida’s Constitution and protect the rights of Florida women and families to make personal medical decisions without government interference.

There is wide agreement among Florida doctors and health care experts that safe and legal access to abortion must be protected, and that politicians should not impose bans or medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion care. It is wrong for politicians to interfere in personal decisions between women and their doctors, just as it is wrong to force doctors and nurses to abandon standards of care for patients who may be dealing with a medical emergency or other crisis. That’s why Floridians of all backgrounds and political stripes should support this amendment.

Florida’s abortion ban denies pregnant women the freedom not just to access essential reproductive health care, but to control their own bodies and their own destinies. As evidenced by the Dorberts’ experience, each pregnancy is unique. Passage of the proposed amendment will ensure that decisions about pregnancy are left between patients and their doctors, not politicians.

I was an LPN from 1977-1982 and a practicing RN until four years ago. I understand the profound pain and suffering government overreach can have on deeply private medical decisions. I’m also a registered Republican, former local elected official and among the nearly 25% of American women who have made the personal decision to end a pregnancy. No Floridian should have to endure the anguish forced upon the Dorberts. Stand up for personal freedom by helping place this amendment on the 2024 ballot.

Carol Whitmore has worked in health care since the 1970s. She is a former city commissioner and mayor in Holmes Beach and served on the Manatee County Commission from 2006-22. Learn more about the amendment at FloridiansProtectingFreedom.com.