Isn't it fun to know people like that? Such a trip!

I wouldn't mind "wasting" a line on a default assignment in a case like that (and I often do it this way):

my $send_now_button = '';  # that's the default value;

$send_now_button = qq( ...blah blah ... )
    if ( $auth{SEND} and status == 1 and $approved and ! $send_now );
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