Amendment 4

The dispute about the abortion impact statement come amid a fierce — and growing — political battle which seeks to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution.

The 1st District Court of Appeal quickly denied a request filed by Floridians Protecting Freedom, a political committee sponsoring the proposed constitutional amendment.

Amendment 4 supporters accused the members of the Financial Impact Estimating Conference of misleading voters by including that the measure could lead to Medicaid-funded abortions and costly lawsuits.

A state panel continued debating the financial effects of the Amendment 4 ballot measure and often came up deadlocked when voting on proposed revised statements.

The Financial Impact Estimating Conference spent more than five hours discussing how approval of Amendment 4 could affect such things as education and health care budgets.

Floridians Protecting Freedom filed a brief that said the 1st District Court of Appeal should reject Florida's arguments that a circuit judge did not have authority to order redrafting the statement.

The ruling was the latest twist in a legal battle about the financial impact statement, which appear with ballot initiatives to provide estimated effects on government revenues and the state budget.

Florida recently issued new guidance on when an abortion can be performed under exceptions, but providers say it has caused even more confusion.

A judge is requiring changes to the state's financial impact statement that will appear on the November ballot with the Amendment 4. The state's motion came hours after the judge rejected a stay in the case.

The numbers provided by the state likely include procedures from April due to an expected lag in reporting.