Florida will remain under a six-week abortion ban after voters in the state rejected a constitutional amendment that would have guaranteed abortion rights, according to a projection by Decision Desk HQ. 

Though a majority of Florida voters supported the measure, it failed to clear the state’s required 60 percent supermajority, the highest threshold any abortion rights measure has been held to since Roe v. Wade’s overturn in 2022.

Ten states had abortion measures on the ballot, but Florida’s was one of the most closely watched, because of the high bar, the many restrictions on abortion throughout the South and efforts to thwart it.

The measure’s failure means Florida will continue to enforce a law banning abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. The law has been in effect since May 1.

At a gathering of supporters in St. Petersburg decked out in purple and yellow balloons, the mood turned somber when Yes on 4 leaders conceded defeat. 

“A minority of Florida voters have decided that Amendment 4 will not be adopted. The reality is that a majority of Floridians, in one of the most conservative electorates in Florida’s presidential history, just voted to end Florida’s abortion ban,” said Lauren Brenzel, the campaign director of the Yes on 4 campaign. “Florida Republicans, Democrats and independents do not support these extreme bans.” 

The result is a significant loss for the state’s abortion rights movement. Republicans who largely oppose abortion control the state’s legislature and its governor’s mansion. Direct voting was, at least in the short term, the only likely way to undo the Florida ban. 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who supports the six-week ban, vocally opposed the measure and leveraged public resources to try to undermine the abortion rights campaign. His state health department sought to stop local news channels from airing advertisements in favor of Amendment 4, an effort blocked by federal courts. Former President Donald Trump, a Republican vying for a second term in the White House and a Florida resident, also said he would vote against the measure.

A prominent anti-abortion group, SBA Pro-Life America, credited DeSantis’ efforts in the defeat of Amendment 4. 

“The demise of pro-abortion Amendment 4 is a momentous victory for life in Florida and for our entire country,” said the group’s president, Marjorie Dannenfelser, in a statement. “Thanks to Gov. Ron DeSantis, when we wake up tomorrow, babies with beating hearts will still be protected in the free state of Florida.” 

Trump, who lives in the state, at one point suggested he would back the measure, saying a six-week limit was too narrow, but later retracted that, calling Democrats “extreme.” When pressed on how he voted after casting his ballot, Trump snapped at a reporter, saying they “should just stop talking about that.”

The state is surrounded by states with strict six-week and near-total abortion bans. Prior to May 1, Florida, home to dozens of clinics and the nation’s third largest state by population, had become a destination for people seeking abortions, seeing one of the largest increases in out-of-state patients since Roe’s fall. Amendment 4’s passage could have allowed the state to assume that status once again.

As of Tuesday night, more than 57% of Floridians had voted in favor of the measure with more than 95% of the votes counted, a high share of the vote that nevertheless was not enough given the 60 percent threshold set by the Republican-controlled Florida legislature.

Pearl Thomas, 54, who voted in St. Petersburg on Tuesday, said the amendment presented a difficult decision. “I am a Christian and I don’t believe in abortion period — that’s God’s decision, right? And then I when looking at some situations that some people do get in, and it is a personal decision,” Thomas said.

“So I just totally left that blank.”

Laura Graham, 58, and her daughter Ashley, 22, said that reproductive rights was their top issue heading into the November election. “We need to give the women their right back. I mean, I’m sorry, that’s just, it’s not our right to tell a woman what they choose to do with their body,” Graham said, while her daughter chimed in in the background, “I’m not sorry.” 

“I just feel like you should have a choice and it shouldn’t be restricted. It’s you and God, you know?” Graham continued. 

Kate Kantnar, 18, voted alongside her dad on Tuesday and said she was really primarily motivated to vote against Amendment 4. She walked away with a pink “Women For Trump” yard sign that supporters were handing out near the polling place. 

Kantnar said her Christian morals were driving  “We should protect the lives of all people who are going to be humans,” she said. She turned 18 on Nov. 1 and rushed to register to vote. 

The amendment’s majority support sends a signal to lawmakers that most of the state’s voters don’t support the state’s current abortion laws, said Sarah Parker, the executive director of Voices of Florida, a reproductive rights advocacy group and abortion fund.

“What you have done was not, is not, and will not be the will of your constituents,” Parker said to a cheering crowd.