What you need to know about Rick Scott ahead of today’s primary

Washington, DC –– There is so much on the line for Floridians in the 2018 midterm elections. With Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court, Floridians’ constitutional rights, including access to abortion, are on the line. There’s a case moving through the courts that could strip health care protections for Floridians with preexisting conditions. And since day one, the Trump-Pence administration has attacked the health, rights, and freedom of women, people of color, people with disabilities, immigrants, LGBTQ people, and young people. This is not what Floridians want. Yet, GOP candidates for governor and U.S. senate support this dangerous agenda to strip our health care and rights. Here’s what you need to know about Rick Scott ahead of today’s primary.

What you need to know about GOP senate candidate Rick Scott:

• Rick Scott has repeatedly undermined access to affordable health care in Florida by refusing Medicaid expansion, endorsing the disastrous Trumpcare proposals, and refusing to oppose the legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act which would strip protections from people with pre-existing conditions.

• Scott worked closely with the Trump administration to craft the GOP replacements for the Affordable Care Act, which would cut millions of Floridians from their insurance and dramatically increase premiums.

• Scott signed a bill to “defund” Planned Parenthood, threatening health care for the 66,000 Floridians who rely on Planned Parenthood health centers for birth control and cancer screenings. Additionally, Rick Scott spent thousands of taxpayer dollars on a bogus investigation into Planned Parenthood, which found nothing wrong.

• Scott has actively undermined women’s health care in Florida. He has signed intrusive and onerous anti-abortion bills including unnecessary 24-hour waiting periods, ultrasound and stringent parental consent requirements, and a 20-week abortion ban. Many of these have been ruled unconstitutional.

• Scott supports Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination and is on the record claiming that “abortion is wrong and Roe v. Wade should be overturned.”

• Scott — who has an A-plus rating from the National Rifle Association — refused to take any action after the 2016 shooting at Pulse Nightclub, even saying “the Second Amendment didn’t kill anybody.” He signed a school safety bill, only after massive public pressure.

• Scott is fine with Trump’s border wall, saying “securing the border, whether it’s a wall, whether it’s a fence, however you want to do it.”

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Planned Parenthood Action Fund is an independent, nonpartisan, not-for-profit membership organization formed as the advocacy and political arm of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. The Action Fund engages in educational and electoral activity, including grassroots organizing, legislative advocacy, and voter education.