Despite a letter signed by over 500 health care providers urging Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to veto the near-total abortion ban sent by Physicians for Reproductive Health, in collaboration with Planned Parenthood of South, East and North Florida and Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, he signed the bill into law overnight. This new law will ban abortion at 6 weeks, require proof of the harm experienced by survivors of rape, incest, and human trafficking who are seeking abortion care, and allocate $25 million in annually recurring funds to anti-abortion centers.
The letter states:
No one should have their most personal medical decisions controlled by politicians, neighbors, complete strangers, or anyone else.
“Should H.B. 7/S.B. 300 go into effect it would harm all Floridians, but particularly those already facing the most barriers to care, including Black, Indigenous, people of color, LGBTQ+ folks, and those living in geographically isolated areas. Denial of abortion care can have serious long-lasting consequences on a person’s health and well-being.”
“If this legislation becomes law, Florida would be the first and only state to have both a 6-week ban and a two-trip requirement for abortion care. The letter reiterates that reproductive health care should never be used as a political bargaining chip and that medically unnecessary regulations are harmful to patients and communities.”
PRH, PPSENFL, and PPSWCFL, and the over 500 signers of this letter want to make it clear that every person should be able to make their own decisions about their health and their bodies — including about abortion — in consultation with their loved ones and health care providers. With research having already found that a total ban could result in a 29% increase in maternal deaths in Florida and the future of legal access to mifepristone, a critical abortion medication, being undetermined, this legislation will harm pregnant people in Florida. No one should have their most personal medical decisions controlled by politicians, neighbors, complete strangers, or anyone else.
