2018 FLORIDA LEGISLATIVE REPORT

The Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates FAPPA) is the nonpartisan advocacy and political arm of Planned Parenthood health centers in Florida. In partnership with more than 700,000 activists, supporters and donors in the state, FAPPA advocates for access to our 22 health centers where patients receive nonjudgmental, compassionate and affordable quality care. With nearly 78% of Planned Parenthood health centers in medically underserved areas, Planned Parenthood continues to be a trusted provider for communities in need. 

For 45 years since the decision in Roe v. Wade, it’s been clear that the constitution protects every woman’s right to make her own personal medical decisions about abortion. Yet politicians in Florida will stop at nothing to end access to reproductive health care, including safe and legal abortion. We have seen Governor Rick Scott and the Florida Legislature signing into law bill after bill that would continue to limit access to critical reproductive health care services. 

These attacks have fueled an unprecedented mobilization of people, with women leading the charge. In 2017, we started marching – tens of thousands strong – in cities across Florida, the nation and the globe, giving voice to the concerns of women and families. In 2018, we remain strong. In coalition with partner organizations across the country and state, we met, called, emailed and sent petitions to legislators to advocate for the well-being of Floridians. Because of this powerful movement, we were able to defeat one of the most dangerous anti-reproductive health bills that Florida has ever seen. 

The Method Ban bill (HB 1429/SB 1780) attempted to ban the most common method of second-trimester abortion, known as dilation and evacuation (or “D&E”). Under this unconstitutional bill, physicians would have been forced to use additional procedures on their patients that are not necessarily as safe, or may not be what their patients, based on their professional medical judgment, think is best. If this bill had become law, some physicians may have been unwilling to perform abortions in a way that goes against their best medical judgment, potentially limiting the availability of second trimester abortion in Florida. This bill is not based on a desire to improve women’s health, but rather aims to eliminate access to abortion as part of a larger anti-abortion strategy to ban abortion altogether. This legislation drew strong opposition from leading health care organizations and concerned Floridians and died in the Senate committee process. The legislation did pass through the House, an indication of the hostile environment in the House toward reproductive rights.

Unfortunately, a bill did pass this legislative session that aims at misleading women who are looking for comprehensive health care, particularly when women are pregnant and need timely access to comprehensive care. HB 41/SB 444 codifies into law Crisis Pregnancy Centers (or CPCs) that oppose abortion and judge, shame, and intentionally try to trick women out of getting the care they are seeking.

These fake clinics are created solely to “promote and encourage childbirth” and often deceive women into believing that they will be able to access comprehensive care and medically accurate information and instead encounter staff attempting to prevent them from obtaining an abortion or other reproductive health care, such as contraception. When a woman has decided to seek birth control or discuss all her reproductive health options, she deserves to be able to access that care from a qualified medical provider. The legislative leadership prioritized this legislation and it passed even with strong opposition in both the House and Senate. It now awaits the Governor’s approval. 

No matter who leads the Florida Legislature, Planned Parenthood will fight to ensure that access to reproductive health care is defended. We believe deeply in the right of all people — no matter who they are, where they live, or what they earn — to make their own personal decisions about their bodies, their families, and their life’s path, without political interference. This report provides an overview of the bills that the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates worked on, in conjunction with our allies and supporters, during the 2018 Legislative Session.