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Here’s the blueprint that righteous pastors are using to get their congregations and the communities to vote against the ballot measure that would amend Florida’s constitution and allow abortion without limits in the Sunshine State.
We recently spotlighted three telltale signs that your pastor might be politically spineless as the election draws closer, too timid to call out the relentless march of progressive chaos.
But leaving it there wouldn’t do justice to the pastors out there with a backbone, especially those ready to champion core values like the sanctity of life. These men are taking a stand as Florida stares down the barrel of Amendment 4.
In just under a week, we’ll learn the fate of this constitutional amendment. Here’s a quick recap: After the Supreme Court smacked down Roe in the Dobbs decision, Florida enacted a law banning abortion at six weeks when a heartbeat is detected. That law isn’t ironclad; it includes exceptions for rape, human trafficking, incest, and when the mother’s life is at risk.
But progressives won’t rest until every woman has the “right” to terminate a pregnancy whenever she feels like it — no limits, no questions asked. Cue Planned Parenthood and their fellow travelers, who managed to collect enough signatures to force a statewide vote, aiming to entrench abortion into Florida’s constitution. Inspired by surprise pro-abortion wins in states like Kentucky, Kansas, and Ohio, the left is now rolling the dice in Florida, a state once on the fence but now reliably red.
Will they succeed?
Not if these pastors have anything to say about it.
“I’ve told my staff, leadership, and congregation about the political sleight-of-hand behind Amendment 4,” Randy Eaton of Cross Community Church in Palm Beach Gardens told the Freedom Center. “I’ve made it crystal clear: it’s dangerous, it’s demonic, and it’s a thinly veiled ploy to pad Planned Parenthood’s pockets and boost the pro-choice crusade.”
Some of Pastor Eaton’s congregation had heard of Amendment 4, but many were unaware of the amendment’s sneaky implications — a deception tactic abortion activists exploit with precision.
Here’s the wording:
“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.”
Catch that? They conveniently left “viability” and “patient’s health” vague.
And who, exactly, qualifies as a “healthcare provider?” Your doctor? A telehealth nurse? Your yoga instructor? The language is ambiguous by design, just waiting for a liberal judge to interpret the amendment in favor of the abortion lobby.
Pastor Dan Plourde at Calvary Church in Jupiter Farms urged his congregation to be the “salt of the earth” — not just the “salt of the church.” Preaching on Amendment 4, he warned, “When Christians don’t vote, we hand over control of this nation’s direction,” also noting that our political landscape “would look entirely different if believers weren’t so apathetic about voting.”
He’s not wrong. As we’ve reported before, pastors have the power to move Christian voters to the polls by the millions. So, what happens when they sit on their hands? “If the church won’t disciple its own, the world will happily step in,” Pastor Plourde observed. “The world would love nothing more than for us to stay silent.”
Pastor Ernie Rivera, who runs the Protect Our Children Project and United Pastors of America, agrees. “Silence on these issues leaves our congregations defenseless against cultural decay,” he told the Freedom Center.
Based in Tampa, Pastor Rivera knows many church leaders avoid so-called “political” topics, fearing division and alienation. But he argues that that’s the wrong mindset: “The Church’s strength is in standing for truth, even when it’s unpopular,” emphasizing that upholding biblical precepts in the face of opposition “is a powerful act of love for both our congregations and our communities.”
Todd Mullins, pastor of the megachurch Christ Fellowship in South Florida, struck a similar chord: “When we don’t vote, we’re effectively silencing our voice in this nation. And this nation desperately needs us to speak up for what’s true and right.”
In a recent email to his large congregation, Pastor Mullins highlighted how extreme Amendment 4 is. He and his wife pointed out that, if passed, it would lock abortion-on-demand into Florida’s constitution, with all the loopholes laid out earlier. Yet it goes much further, they added, by making abortion the only medical procedure minors can undergo without a parent’s consent.
That’s not an exaggeration. The amendment talks about notifying a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion but skips right past the actual need for consent.
Quoting Proverbs 31:8, Pastor Mullin reminded his members that they’re called to “speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.” He then issued this challenge: “As Christ’s followers, we have to be the voice for the unborn, who have no voice but ours.”
Tragically, an alarming number of “voices” are indifferent — or worse, deny that the preborn have any civil rights of their own. Public Opinion Research Lab poll shows 60 percent backing Amendment 4, while St. Pete Polls has it at 54 percent and a Florida Atlantic University poll records support at 58 percent. Amendments in Florida need 60 percent approval to take effect, and with an undecided margin of about 8 percent, it’s anyone’s game.
Lynda Bell, president of Florida Right to Life, told the Freedom Center that the abortion industry has pumped nearly $60 million into getting Amendment 4 over the finish line. Their thinking, Bell explained, is that if they can win in Florida, they can win anywhere.
Nonetheless, Bell remains cautiously optimistic about the amendment’s defeat. “We’re chipping away at their lies,” she said, referring to claims that doctors will go to prison and that there are no exceptions whatsoever to the current heartbeat law. “The more we spread the word, the more people see just how radical this proposal really is.”
Pastor Ernie Rivera likewise is hopeful. He’s convinced that with enough grassroots mobilization and a surge in voter turnout, believers can stop this amendment in its tracks. To make that happen, he highlights a well-coordinated campaign: spreading the message through sermons, equipping voters with resources, canvassing neighborhoods, and distributing tens of thousands of door hangers.
And as for pastors still unsure about weighing in on Amendment 4, Dan Plourde of Calvary Church put it this way: “The issue isn’t that the church is becoming too political; it’s that our government is encroaching on theology and spirituality — in the worst possible way.”
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