1. Expand pharmacists’ authority to provide contraceptive services.
2. Enact new state and federal policies that protect access to safe abortions.
3. Extend Medicaid coverage for postpartum mothers for a minimum of one year.
4. Increase access to doulas to support birthing experiences and postpartum wellness.
5. Increase public funding for high-quality, affordable child care.
Footnote: The authors recognize that reproductive justice is a human rights issue.
Plaintiffs argue that the law (the 15 week abortion ban signed by DeSantis) — which criminalizes essential healthcare and threatens to imprison doctors for providing care to their patients — violates the state constitution. Read more about the law suit HERE.
A few clips from an informative webinar
In these three clips, the doctor answers a question about abortions performed 15 weeks after a person's last period when the fetus is 13 weeks
When this detail is left out of stories, it feels like a glaring omission to people who are upset at the idea of requiring expectant parents to continue a pregnancy that they already know will end in suffering.
Here's the link to the horrible bill that Degette is discussing so you can see who cosponsored it:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/26/cosponsors
Contraception
It appears that the department of health thinks this material is important enough to allow teenagers to access it without parental consent. Excerpt from the Florida Department of Health:
Teens, ages 13 and up, can receive family planning education and services with or without parental consent. No or low cost services are provided by most providers.
Services Provided
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Pregnancy tests
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HIV / STD testing
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Education and counseling
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Contraceptive methods (birth control)
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Free condoms
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I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Population Affairs (OPA) amends the Title X Family Planning regulations to restore access to equitable, affordable, client-centered, quality family planning services for more Americans. For more information:
Plan B or Plan C
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has, since 2013, allowed retailers to sell emergency contraception (EC) --also known as plan B on the shelf to anyone regardless of age or gender, and without a requirement to present identification. For more information:
It’s 45-50 minutes long and very well done!
Link to the webinar from KFF on Medication Abortion:
Here is a resource that was mentioned on the webinar:
According to this link: "Routine ultrasound is not considered medically necessary as a component of a first-trimester abortion."
https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/state-indicator/ultrasound-requirements/
Be aware of fake clinics giving bogus medical information.
Please report fake clinics.
Details:
Maternal mental health
Maternal Mental Health Now offers valuable resources for providers and families.
Check them out:
Information about abortion bans
The plaintiffs argue the ban on abortion violates individual privacy rights that are enshrined in the state constitution
State bans on abortion don’t apply to emergency health care, White House reminds providers
By Jennifer Shutt, Florida Phoenix
The Biden administration reminded doctors and other health care providers Monday that a federal law protects them if they provide abortion services to save a patient’s life or health in emergency situations — regardless of what state laws say.
Judy discusses a number of bills in her two minutes. She discussed the parental consent bill around the one minute mark. Then after her two minutes, Representative Fischer asks her the difference between an abortion and an aspirin.
Judy told them
in 2019 that this might happen if they passed the bill.
Article about a teen forced to carry pregnancy to term against her will:
Judy told them
in 2019 that this might happen: Teen forced to carry pregnancy to term against her will:
Events in our Communities (ordered by date)
Eugenics, Abortion, and Progressivism w/International Association for Feminist Economics & History of Economic Society
Friday, March 17 at 10am
Register for Zoom link
A Call to Arms: Violence and the Pro-Life Movement w/Reproaction
Monday, March 20, 12:00
Save the date - no registration link provided yet
Self-managed Abortion, Safe & Supported (SASS) w/Progress Florida
A train-the-trainer event
Wednesday, March 22, @ 2:00pm - 4:00pm
Register for link
Legal Access to Abortion and Contraception in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s w/International Association for Feminist Economics & History of Economic Society
Friday, March 31 at 12:30pm
Register for Zoom link
Gainesville Planned Parenthood Volunteer Meeting
Tuesday, April 4 @ 6:30pm
Register for Zoom link
Call for Submissions - Quilt Project
Grandmothers for Reproductive Rights (GRR!) are looking for pro-abortion quilt blocks that are embroidered, printed, painted, or otherwise decorated or embellished with mementos. Blocks should be 6 x 6 or 12 x 12 blocks of sturdy cotton (canvas is suggested). Non-quilters welcome! See more here.
News Roundup
(Some of the news stories below may require a subscription to read.)
Florida
Florida Republicans seek ban on abortions after 6 weeks of pregnancy
By Arek Sarkissian
Politico
Florida’s Republican-led legislature on Tuesday filed bills that would ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy but offer exemptions for victims of rape and incest if they can provide official proof of the crime.
Abortion rights advocates blast a proposed 6-week ban in Florida
By Stephanie Colombini
WUSF Tampa Bay
Abortion rights advocates are criticizing a proposal to ban the procedure after six weeks in Florida, saying it could force many people to remain pregnant against their will.
Proposed six-week abortion ban would take Florida off the table for women in the Southeastern by Jake Stofan
Action News Jax
Abortion access in Florida would be further restricted under a new legislation filed on the first day of the legislative session.
Florida is considering a 6-week abortion ban. What to know about the heartbeat bill
By Michelle Marchante
Miami Herald
Florida lawmakers will soon have to consider whether to ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.
Florida Republicans propose a ‘near-total’ abortion ban at 6 weeks. What does this mean for South Florida?
By Shira Moolten
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Florida lawmakers proposed legislation Tuesday that will ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy with few exceptions.
Democratic lawmakers slam proposed 6-week limit on abortion
By Anne Geggis
Florida Politics
Democratic lawmakers are promising to bring the fight to Republicans over legislation banning abortion before most women know they are pregnant.
Lakeland Residents React to 6-Week Abortion Ban Proposal
by Kimberly C. Moore
LkldNow
Demonstrations came a day after legislation was introduced in the Florida Legislature to ban abortions after six weeks.
Planned Parenthood pans proposed Florida ‘heartbeat’ abortion bill
By A.G. Gancarski
Florida Politics
New legislation that would impose a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy is earning a long denunciation from Planned Parenthood.
Florida Democrats Push Their Abortion Bill Ahead Of Session
By Joel Malkin
WFLA Tampa Bay
Two bills filed by Democrats would roll back Florida's 15-week abortion ban. During a virtual press conference Monday, Sen. Lori Berman of Boca Raton said her bill is necessary after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
This International Women’s Day, U.S. anti-abortion laws violate human rights, groups say
By Sofia Resnick
Florida Phoenix
Ahead of International Women’s Day, hundreds of U.S. and global human rights groups, doctors and attorneys have asked the United Nations to intervene on behalf of the millions of women in the U.S. who have been left without access to legal abortion and vital forms of reproductive health care in the wake of last summer’s monumental U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
It’s not clear when new abortion restrictions will show up in the 2023 session; Is that on purpose?
By Briana Michel and Danielle J. Brown
Florida Phoenix
On the first day of the 2022 Legislature, Jan 11, 2022, then-Rep. Erin Grall, who has been at the forefront of abortion restrictions in Florida, suddenly filed a bill that would become Florida’s 15-week abortion ban. The Senate’s version was filed on that day as well.
What Ron DeSantis’ budding presidential bid could mean for Florida abortion laws
By Mel Leonor Barclay and Shefali Luthra
The 19th
A prominent group pushing for some of the most drastic restrictions on abortion, Students for Life Action, polled the crowd at its annual summit in January about who they’d like to see as the next president.
Florida Republicans seek new abortion restrictions amid broad rightwing push
By Edward Helmore
The Guardian
Florida Republicans are planning a broad rightwing legislative push, including new restrictions on gender identification, diversity and equity programs, abortion and press freedoms, and further relaxation of concealed weapons laws and the ability of courts to impose death sentences.
Record number of women traveled to Florida for abortions in 2022, data shows
By Shannon Butler and Adam Poulisse
WFTV Orlando
Recent data shows a record number of women traveled to Florida for abortions last year.
Let's dispel the myths about emergency contraception
By Kira-Lynn Ferderber
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
As a local sexual health educator, I hear all kinds of questions.
Tallahassee’s medical providers deserve thanks as Florida abortion laws add extra burden
By Meg Baldwin and Jodi Wilkof
Tallahassee Democrat
Thirty years ago today - on the morning of March 10, 1993 - Dr. David Gunn pulled into the parking lot of Pensacola Women’s Medical Services, the abortion clinic where he was working that day.
Florida’s 15-week abortion ban made many women suffer. And Republicans aren’t done yet
Editorial
Miami Herald
Republicans pushing for abortion bans across the nation don’t want to be seen as callous toward women facing the agonizing situation of a pregnancy that could harm them or that isn’t viable.