CNA Staff, Oct 18, 2024 / 16:15 pm
A Catholic university in Florida is set to host a major rally against Florida’s pro-abortion ballot measure on Sunday, with several federal and state legislators as well as actor and producer Eduardo Verástegui scheduled to be in attendance.
Ave Maria University is hosting the Oct. 20 rally in opposition to a Florida Amendment 4, which would enshrine a right to abortion in the state constitution. The amendment would prevent the government from restricting abortion up until the point of viability and up to birth in cases of the woman’s health.
“We are so excited to host the Respect Life Rally at Ave Maria University,” said Father Joseph Lugalambi, Ave Maria University’s campus chaplain.
“We have been following our bishop, and his support for mothers and the unborn has been inspiring,” Lugalambi told CNA. “This event raises awareness of the harm Amendment 4 will cause to the unborn and their mothers — allowing for late-term abortions, eliminating parental consent laws, and worsening the health care provided to women in crisis.”
“We are grateful for the opportunity to support life in all its stages!” he said. “Ave Maria University is pro-life!”
The Ave Maria rally, organized by the Respect Life Ministry at Ave Maria Parish, is set to bring in a number of well-known Floridians.
Mexican producer and actor Eduardo Verástegui, who produced “Sound of Freedom,” starred in “For Greater Glory,” and was a producer for “Little Boy,” “Bella,” and “Cabrini,” will also be speaking at the rally.
Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart (R-Florida) and State Rep. Lauren Melo (R-Naples) are set to speak at the event, as is Bishop Frank Dewane of the Diocese of Venice.
“We are humbled to welcome Bishop Dewane and many special guests as we organize our community to get out and vote against this radical pro-abortion amendment,” Sharon Levesque, coordinator of the parish Respect Life Ministry and the Oct. 20 rally, told CNA.
Speakers also include Manuel Milanés, an “Ave Maria hero” who saved the lives of a mother and her four children by taking a bullet in the chest.
“He’s the strongest embodiment of a pro-life man that we’ve ever seen,” Ave Maria Respect Life Ministry volunteer and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Caputo told CNA. He noted that “it’s the same thing” as protecting unborn babies, but “on the left, only those children are worth saving.”
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CatholicVote’s National Political Director Logan Church and members of Doctors Against Amendment 4 are also slated to be in attendance.
If passed, the amendment would change the Florida Constitution to include a provision that reads: “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 health care provider.”
Opponents of the amendment note that the amendment would deregulate pre-viability abortion, removing health and safety regulations to the point that the government could not legally require a doctor to be present to prescribe chemical abortion pills.
“There’s a lot of fear that Florida will become an abortion vacation destination” if the amendment is passed, Caputo said, noting that the state is already a major vacation destination.
Proponents argue that abortion decisions should be in the hands of individuals. Proponents from the group “Yes on 4” call Florida’s current abortion law a “near-total abortion ban with no real exceptions,” according to a statement by the group’s campaign director, Lauren Brenzel.
The proposed amendment needs a 60% majority to pass in the state of Florida.
“Florida possesses a vibrant pro-life community,” Seana McGuire, the chair of the politics department at Ave Maria University, told CNA. “Our bishops have rallied the faithful and impressed upon us the gravity of the moral issues at stake with Amendment 4.”
State’s bishops are all in
The Florida bishops have steadfastly opposed the amendment and submitted a brief to the state Supreme Court in November 2023 that argued the proposal’s title “misleadingly suggests that the amendment ‘limits’ government interference when it bans all regulation before viability.”
The bishops “have communicated that Amendment 4 is a radical measure that undermines parental rights and perversely worsens the health care provided to women in crisis,” McGuire continued. “Most importantly, they have reminded us that every life is precious, no matter the stage of development. We are all created in the image and likeness of God. We can be thankful for their message of love for all and their prudence at this critical moment.”
“That is the mission of this town, of this parish, of this university — to support mothers and children,” Caputo added when asked why Ave Maria was hosting the rally.
