IANAL, but my thought is that it's easier to prove than 1st degree, because 1st degree requires premeditation. Shooting too high can result in acquital - IIRC, one of the reasons that the officers who beat Rodney King were cleared in their criminal trial was because the DA charged them with the equivalent of attempted murder, and the defense essentially said "If the officers were trying to kill King, why wasn't he dead?"
While I too am not a lawyer (actually, a pre-law student)--nor do I live in FL; this much I do know:
1st Degree Murder requires two key elements that must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt:
-Premeditation (actor clearly thought about or planned out the deed, and then decided to execute it)
-Malice aforethought (mens rea; with regard to murder, it is the evil intent of taking life at the time of the act or to willfully act in callous and wanton disregard of human life).
Actus Reus (the actual act of commission or omission
Mens rea is the blameworthy state of mind (easier way to think of it is "guilty mind"
With the last two being simultaneously concurrent.
A second-degree murder charge typically doesn't require both criteria (murder in the heat of passion is typically 2nd degree--while done with an evil intent, one cannot clearly prove it was premeditated).
My guess is that the DA is figuring he can't prove the premeditation (which I strongly disagree with)
IMHO, there's enough there just in that article to try, convict, and punish for first-degree murder.
Having said that, for the DA to not even try for a first-degree charge is a grievous miscarriage of justice, a callous insult to the sanctity of human life, and a brazen failure of the prosecution to do the right thing.
All abortions are premeditated and intentional.