A renowned pro-life Florida physician and radiologist has spoken out about how Florida’s Amendment 4 threatens the safety of women and their unborn children.
Grazie Pozo Christie, a board-certified radiologist and licensed physician, wrote an opinion piece for the Miami Herald. Christie performs ultrasounds for pregnant mothers in Miami, is a founding member of Florida Physicians Against Amendment 4, and is a senior fellow at the Catholic Association. Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed her to the State Board of Education in 2022.
In the Miami Herald article, Christie warned readers that the proposal “would have devastating effects on our patients for generations to come,” explaining how the language of the amendment hides nearly unrestricted access to abortion during a woman’s entire pregnancy.
Christie explained that the proposal states a woman’s “healthcare provider” can decide if abortion is “necessary” at any point in the pregnancy. She continued to explain that Florida law considers “any person, institution, or organization that is licensed, certified, or authorized by law to provide healthcare services” as a healthcare provider.
“This includes hospitals, physicians, healthcare centers, clinics and laboratories,” Christie wrote, “which means not just not just OBGYNs and other trained physicians would be making life and death decisions for Florida women and girls.”
Moreover, as a woman progresses in her pregnancy, abortion becomes more dangerous, with a woman’s risk of dying due to abortion complications “increases by 38% each week (starting at 8 weeks of pregnancy), according to a study by the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion,” Christie continued.
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Christie then quoted the text of the proposed amendment itself, which states: “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.”
The phrase “before viability” is intentionally vague, Christie argued. It “purposefully doesn’t say” at what week a baby is viable outside the womb, “leaving the question to be determined by an undefined ‘health care provider.’”
The author further clarified that the phrase “to protect the patient’s health” is unspecified, “thus allowing any condition one could dream up to be used as justification, including anxiety or panic attacks or mental health issues.”
Christie then took up the second sentence of the proposed amendment, which reads: “This amendment does not change the Legislature’s constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion.”
Pointing out that the amendment would require notification, not consent or permission, from a girl’s parents, Christie wrote: “Parents will be, in theory, informed of their minor daughter’s abortion but will have zero right to stop it from happening.”
The author concluded, “The passage of Amendment 4 would eliminate the rights of voters and legislators to make any changes to laws concerning abortion. Amendment 4 is bad for women, and bad for Florida.”
LifeNews Note: Grace Porto writes for CatholicVote, where this column originally appeared.
