Left-wing dark money and unions team up to enshrine abortion in Florida’s constitution

(Daily Caller News Foundation) – As election day approaches and polls narrow, out-of-state groups are pouring tens of millions into Florida to enshrine abortion as a right in the state’s constitution.

Massive Democratic-aligned dark money networks, the Soros family, D.C.-based liberal advocacy groups and public-sector unions have rallied behind Floridians Protecting Freedom (FPF), spending millions to support the group’s effort to repeal Florida’s prohibition on abortion after fetal heartbeats are typically detected, campaign finance records show. FPF is the primary group supporting an initiative on November’s ballot to amend the state’s constitution by creating a constitutional right to terminate one’s pregnancy.

To be added to the state’s constitution, the amendment would need to attract 60% support on election day. A poll in June found that 69% of voters supported that amendment, though an October poll recently found that just 60% of voters reported supporting the abortion initiative, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.

“Now, just barely reaching the 60% it needs to pass, it looks like the fate of abortion in Florida will come down to turnout on Election Day,” University of North Florida political science professor Michael Binder told the Tallahassee Democrat.

While FPF brands itself as “grassroots,” it has been relying on deep-pocketed out-of-state liberal organizations to shore up pro-abortion turnout ahead of election day. All told, out-of-state groups have spent well over $40 million boosting the pro-abortion amendment, dwarfing outside spending from pro-life organizations opposing it.

Sixteen Thirty Fund, for example, donated $304,300 worth of research services to FPF in July, according to campaign finance records. Arabella Advisors, a shadowy D.C.-based consulting firm, manages Sixteen Thirty Fund as part of a multi-billion dollar dark money nonprofit network. Sixteen Thirty Fund and the rest of the nonprofits under Arabella Advisors’ umbrella have spent hundreds of millions of dollars over the years pouring money into Democratic political committees, funding climate lawsuits, bankrolling left-of-center activist groups and paying for voter mobilization efforts targeted at left-leaning demographics.

In addition to conducting research for FPF, Sixteen Thirty Fund also donated $1 million to the pro-abortion campaign on May 31, records show. New Venture Fund and Hopewell Fund, two other nonprofits managed by Arabella Advisors, collectively donated about $11.8 million to FPF between Oct. 7 and Oct. 8.

The Tides Foundation, another large liberal grantmaker that has been accused of dealing in dark money, donated about $3.5 million to FPF between December 2023 and September, according to state records. Tides, which is based in San Francisco, directs its funds towards mobilizing pro-Democratic voters and pro-abortion activism, among other left-of-center initiatives.

Liberal dark money groups have supported similar abortion ballot measures in Ohio and Michigan. Many Democratic strategists see November’s abortion referendums as an opportunity to sway voters to their side in the presidential election.

“Dark money” typically refers to organizations that involve themselves in political campaigns without disclosing donors’ identities. None of the nonprofits in Arabella’s network nor the Tides Foundation publicize the identities of donors, despite the organizations being involved in electoral politics.

“Florida regularly rejects the dark money D.C. establishment, and unsurprisingly, these groups are spending tens of millions in an attempt to turn Florida into California and buy influence,” a spokesperson for the campaign opposing the abortion amendment told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “But no amount of money will convince Floridians that non-doctors should be able to perform abortions up until the moment of birth, that a child can undergo an abortion without parental consent, or that taxpayers should pay for abortions, which Amendment 4 would allow.”

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has said that Amendment Four would legalize abortion “until the moment of birth.” The text of the amendment prohibits the state’s legislature from restricting abortion before fetal viability, which is generally considered to occur around 24 weeks and would give healthcare providers the right to perform an abortion at any point in a pregnancy if they believe doing so would “protect the patient’s health.”

At 23 weeks, an unborn child is about a foot tall and has arms and legs, according to the United Kingdom’s National Health Service.

Working hand-in-hand with Democratic dark money operations, public unions have been using dues collected from taxpayer-funded salaries to fight for a constitutional abortion guarantee in Florida, according to campaign finance records. Various branches of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which represents public-sector workers, have pumped considerable funds into FPF from outside of Florida.

Chapters of the SEIU in New York, Connecticut, D.C., California and Washington state collectively gave over $1 million to FPF, records show. The SEIU represents both public and private sector employees.

Federal law prohibits unions from contributing membership dues directly to political campaigns, according to the Department of Labor. They can, however, contribute revenue from membership dues to political committees like FPF. Under current Supreme Court precedent, public employees cannot be compelled to join a union and pay dues as a condition of employment.

Though it is cashing massive checks from out-of-state unions and dark money behemoths, FPF is adamant that it is running a “grassroots” operation.

“We will work every day to build on the already unprecedented grassroots support this campaign has received from allied organizations, volunteers, and funders to educate voters and strengthen public support ahead of the election,” an April press release from the group reads. The term “grassroots” appears multiple times on the organization’s website, with FPF touting purported organic local support for its efforts.

The New York-based Soros family, one of the largest funders of liberal campaigns across the country, pumped $5.5 million into FPF’s self-described grassroots campaign between September 2023 and September 2024, records show. Planned Parenthood Action Fund and Reproductive Justice for All, two of the largest pro-abortion groups in the country, both of which are headquartered outside of Florida, have donated $2.5 million to FPF. Other D.C.-based activist groups have donated over $16 million to FPF this election cycle.

Florida Freedom Fund, a PAC founded by DeSantis to fight the abortion initiative, by contrast, has only raised a couple hundred thousand dollars from out of state organizations, campaign finance records show. Florida Voters Against Extremism, another group opposing the amendment, has also raised just a few hundred thousand from out-of-state groups, much of which came from Catholic organizations.

FPF did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.