Floridians, fight for reproductive rights at the ballot box
Two months ago, the Supreme Court of the United States struck down Roe v. Wade, expressly taking away the constitutional right to access abortion care from the American people. This decision is the direct result of Republicans’ decades-long, radical war on health care, reproductive rights, and our collective freedoms.
As the former senior director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, I am outraged. As a woman of reproductive age, I am angry. As your current state representative from District 47, I am fighting every day to protect access to safe and legal abortion and contraception.
Republicans are taking their attacks on abortion care to state legislatures. Abortion access is now banned or is likely to be banned soon in about two dozen Republican-controlled states, including Florida. This past legislative session, the Florida Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis succeeded in passing a 15-week abortion ban, with no exceptions for rape, incest or human trafficking.
Patients and providers are already feeling the invasive nature of this law; with some women having to leave the state to receive medical care, and others — like the unnamed and parentless 16 year old who was denied a judicial bypass via a panel of judges who deemed her “not mature enough” to access an abortion — will be forced to give birth.
But if you think the situation is bad, please understand that GOP politicians plan to make it worse. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Senate Republicans are planning a federal abortion ban if they are able to take back control of the Senate. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said he would support a nationwide 15-week abortion ban bill if Republicans take back the House. Former Vice President Mike Pence has already gone on the record saying Republicans “must not rest and must not relent” until there is an abortion ban in every state. Florida State Sen. Dennis Baxley, when asked if Florida should incarcerate women who end their own pregnancies said, “everything is on the table.” And if DeSantis is re-elected we expect a full abortion ban to come to Florida next year.
This is unacceptable, especially since we know abortion bans not only lead to poor maternal health outcomes, but are vastly unpopular across the country too. Even in the conservative state of Kansas, a constitutional amendment to ban abortion failed. And Floridians, both in 1980 and 2012, have voted to secure and protect our right to privacy.
Today, Democrats are on defense to protect abortion access. President Biden has committed to doing everything in his power to defend reproductive rights and protect access to safe and legal abortion, and he’s backing it up with action.
The Biden administration is coordinating federal efforts to protect reproductive rights and safeguard access to reproductive health care services. These include both abortion and contraception, building on steps the Department of Health and Human Services has already taken to ensure medication abortion, emergency contraception, and making long-acting contraception is as widely available as possible. The U.S. Attorney General has also committed to fight any attack by a state or local official who attempts to interfere with women exercising their right to travel out of state for medical care.
The Biden administration is also addressing privacy concerns when it comes to reproductive healthcare, building on steps the HHS Office of Civil Rights has taken to ensure doctors and medical providers and plans know that they are not required (with limited exceptions) to disclose patients’ private information. The safety of patients, providers, and clinics is an essential priority.
President Biden has made clear that the only way to secure abortion rights is for Congress to restore the protections of Roe as federal law. That requires voters turning out to keep a Democratic majority in the House of Representatives and voting in new senators to reach the 60-vote filibuster threshold.
The only way to remedy the Supreme Court’s devastating unraveling of our collective freedoms is to win at the ballot box. The choice this November is clear. As Republicans push to make abortion illegal, in many states like Florida, electing Democratic governors, attorneys general, state legislatures, and federal representatives is the last line of defense for Americans’ reproductive rights.
Abortion is on your ballot. We can restore and protect abortion rights for generations to come by winning governorships, state legislatures and in Congress.
President Biden has made clear that the only way to secure abortion rights is for Congress to restore the protections of Roe as federal law. That requires voters turning out to keep a Democratic majority in the House of Representatives and voting in new senators to reach the 60-vote filibuster threshold.