House Speaker Paul Renner’s PAC, Conservatives for Principled Leadership, donated $1 million to the Florida Voters Against Extremism PAC to oppose a constitutional amendment initiative that would enshrine abortion rights in the Florida Constitution.

Conservatives for Principled Leadership, a Tallahassee-based political action committee (PAC) headed by House Speaker Paul Renner, donated $1 million to a committee standing in opposition to a constitutional amendment initiative that would enshrine abortion rights in the Florida Constitution.

The donation, made on July 5, according to financial documents, was made to the Florida Voters Against Extremism PAC, a group chaired by Mary Jay O’Sullivan, a former director of maternal fetal medicine at the University of Miami. Earlier this year in an op-ed published on the Sun-Sentinel, O’Sullivan contended that the ballot initiative’s language that would permit abortions to occur “before viability” is a false assurance, a point of contention also brought forward by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

“Many voters who read this would be surprised to learn that the summary’s statement that abortions could only occur “before viability” is a false assurance, because the amendment provides no definition or standard for viability,” wrote O’Sullivan. “Rather, the amendment lets any “healthcare provider” determine if the baby is viable. This “healthcare provider” would also determine if the expectant mother has a “health” concern significant enough to allow a late-term abortion, right up to the moment of birth.”

Health News Florida reported in April that Renner indicated that he also felt as though the initiative is worded too vaguely.

“So when they look at viability, doesn’t tell you what does that mean,” Renner said, according to the publication. “Is that 20 weeks, is that 25 weeks?” “But beyond that is this health exception that follows it, which is not well-defined, it’s in the hands of a health care provider that’s not defined.”

Renner has not been a direct sponsor of any abortion legislation. However, he has been a vocal supporter of abortion restrictions, including the six-week abortion ban that was signed into law during the 2023 legislative session. The legislation, spearheaded by other Republican lawmakers such as Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka, restricts abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, with certain exceptions for cases of rape, incest, and human trafficking.

Florida Amendment 4, the Right to Abortion Initiative, is an initiated constitutional amendment appearing on ballots in November. The initiative “would provide a constitutional right to abortion before fetal viability (estimated to be around 24 weeks) or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s medical provider.”

Poll findings indicate that 61 percent of participants support the passage of Amendment 4, while 29 percent oppose it and 10 percent remain undecided, according to a Florida Chamber of Commerce poll.

The Florida Supreme Court ruled in April to allow the proposed amendment to be placed on the state’s November ballot. The state Supreme Court concurrently ruled to uphold a 15-week abortion ban, a decision that activated a more restrictive six-week abortion ban that took effect this month.

State Republicans have criticized the measure.

“Amendment 4 … dramatically expands and legalizes the systemic killing of unborn babies in the state of Florida, potentially up until birth under the guise of protecting women’s health,” the party wrote in a list of resolutions drafted earlier this month.

In February, the State Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Florida formally declared its opposition to Amendment 4. The resolution was largely predicated upon the belief that life begins at conception and criticizes efforts to circumvent legislative processes by directly presenting the amendment to voters, perceived as undermining Florida’s legislative and judicial authority.

“Radical activists have collected petition signatures that would place on the November ballot a constitutional amendment that would enshrine abortions … which would bypass the delegated authority of the Legislature and override the right to life laws in effect in the State of Florida,” reads a portion of the decree.