JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Amendment Six will halt public funds from being used for abortion. Those on one side say that takes away a woman's right. But those on the other side say it's stopping murder.
"It's ending the life of a living person," said Father Denis O'Shaughnessy.
The Catholic diocese is encouraging its parishioners to learn about Amendment Six and what it stands for. Father O'Shaughnessy says ending public funding for abortion means saving innocent lives.
"Science itself says that's life. It isn't going to become anything else but a baby," he said. "It's not going to become an acorn or a turtle. It's a human life. And the church's stance is thou shall not kill."
But folks on the other side of the spectrum say this is America and freedom of choice is being compromised.
"It really allows politicians to put women's health in danger," said Staci Fox, volunteer with the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates. "What this amendment is really about is political interference. Government intrusion between a woman and a personal decision she needs to make with her doctor her family and her faith."
Fox says if this amendment passes, funding some women may desperately need won't be there.
"If a woman is pregnant had planned on it then found out she had cancer in her pregnancy then needed chemotherapy to treat her cancer and terminate her pregnancy this would not allow her health insurance to cover it," she said.
But Father O'Shaughnessy says the decision to abort a baby should have never been a choice to begin with.
"Someone else determining when your life will end. And we maintain that's a God-given right," he said.
The amendment's definition says it would not apply if a woman suffers from a physical disorder, injury or illness putting her life in danger. It also doesn't apply to cases of rape or incest.
