The Quickie: Florida Six-Week Abortion Ban Quickly Advances
For Immediate Release: March 21, 2023
Welcome to “The Quickie” — Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s daily tipsheet on the top health care & reproductive rights stories of the day. You can read “The Quickie'' online here.
In today’s Quickie: FL 6-week ban advances out of first committee, IA legislators introduce reproductive rights package, and WY bans medication abortion and becomes the 19th state to prohibit all or some abortions.
FLORIDA SIX-WEEK ABORTION BAN QUICKLY ADVANCES TO SECOND COMMITTEES: Less than a week after Florida’s proposed six-week abortion ban cleared its first House committee, the Florida Senate Health Policy Committee approved the Senate version of the bill (HB 7 / SB 300). Both versions are expected to be scheduled for second committee hearings shortly, with floor votes happening as early as March 27.
More than thirty physicians and medical students testified in protest against the abortion ban yesterday, sharing how Florida’s existing ban has affected their patients. In a statement, Laura Goodhue, Executive Director of the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, said,
“Despite firsthand accounts from OBGYNs who are seeing every day the devastating consequences of Florida’s current 15-week abortion ban, the majority on the Senate Health Policy Committee today ignored their expertise and traumatic patient stories, rejected sound science and passed a reckless near-total abortion ban. When politicians bar medical professionals from using their best medical judgment, outcomes for patients are worse. This is particularly true of lower income patients and people of color. This abortion ban will do great harm to Floridians, simply to further Ron DeSantis’ ambition to be president. Politicians should stay out of personal medical decisions.”
Read more at WMNF and Tallahassee Democrat.
LEGISLATIVE CHAMPIONS IN IOWA INTRODUCE REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS PACKAGE: Yesterday, lawmakers in the Iowa House of Representatives introduced a bill package to protect reproductive rights in the state amidst proposed attacks on abortion rights. The package includes a constitutional amendment to protect reproductive freedom; a restoration of the Iowa Family Planning Network, offering a 90/10 federal/state funding match for birth control services; and a proposal to extend Medicaid postpartum eligibility from 60 days to twelve months.
“It’s empowering to see Iowa lawmakers standing up for the people they serve and working to protect and expand Iowans’ rights and access to health care, including abortion, instead of continuing to burn down what used to be a strong system of access to all reproductive health care,” said Mazie Stilwell, Director of Public Affairs for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa. “This agenda reflects the values of Iowans, a growing majority of whom support keeping abortion safe and legal.”
Anti-abortion politicians in Iowa have already proposed a ban on medication abortion, which accounts for 80% of abortions in the state, as well as a highly restrictive abortion ban with an aiding and abetting provision, which makes people criminally liable for helping someone obtain an abortion.
Read more at the Iowa Capital Dispatch.
WYOMING ENACTS MEDICATION ABORTION BAN, NEAR TOTAL ABORTION BAN: Late last week, Gov. Mark Gordon signed into law a medication abortion ban with up to six months in prison and a $9,000 fine for violators. The law will go into effect on July 1, 2023. SF109 comes as we wait for the consequential decision in the federal case AHM v. FDA, which threatens FDA approval of mifepristone, one of two medications used in medication abortion.
Near-total abortion ban, HB152, has also taken effect, making Wyoming the 19th state to prohibit all or some abortions. The law includes narrow exceptions for incest, sexual assault, life of the pregnant person, and “lethal fetal anomaly” and prohibits state funding for any abortion care. There is still active litigation of Wyoming’s currently blocked trigger ban, which had previously kept abortion legal in the state.
Read more at CBS.