FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Florida Democratic lawmakers marked the two years of the Dobbs decision on Monday, marking the date when the Supreme Court ended 50 years of federal abortion rights.
“Each of us standing here has daughters who today have less rights than we grew up with under Roe v. Wade, less rights as Floridians than we had in the last 35 years,” said U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Florida.
The decision has resulted in a patchwork of abortion laws nationwide.
“We have seen 21 states ban all or some access to abortion care,” said Michelle Quesada with Planned Parenthood of South, East and North Florida. “In Florida, we have a near-total abortion ban, at six weeks, before most women even know they’re pregnant.”
Now there is a push to urge Florida voters interested in preserving abortion care access to head to the polls this November.
“We need to make sure that we ensure that generationally, women in our state and the people who love us don’t have our rights further eroded,” said Wasserman Schultz. “That is a nonpartisan issue and every voter needs to make a decision to vote for a pro-productive freedom candidate.”
Added State Rep. Marie Woodson, D-Hollywood: “My message to all women, stand up for yourself, stand up for your children, for your sisters, stand up for yourself because your rights are being taken away no matter what party you belong to
There was no mention of the issue on the Florida GOP’s social media platforms Monday afternoon.
For decades, abortion has been a hotly debated topic, leveraged by partisans on both sides during election seasons.
That has remained true, even when public opinion polls have consistently demonstrated that most Americans agree on first-trimester abortion access and abortion restriction exceptions for rape and incest.
“There was an effort to codify Roe v. Wade nationally, and we do have a filibuster in the United States Senate, and they were not able to overcome it,” said Wasserman Schultz. “That is why we do need to modify the filibuster and open windows when it comes to protecting people’s rights, whether that is voting rights or reproductive rights.”
Just last year, Gallup found that post-Dobbs, there remains broad support for abortion rights. It found that a “record-high 69% say abortion should generally be legal in the first three months of pregnancy.”
In a post-Roe Florida, state lawmakers first passed a 15-week abortion ban - previously it was 24 - than a 6-week ban, which took effect last month after Florida’s state Supreme Court chose to upend decades of legal precedent which had extended the state constitution’s privacy clause to abortion access.
“Voters in Florida need to pay attention and they need to wake up because the six-week abortion ban is basically an outright ban, I didn’t even know If I have missed a period at six weeks,” said State. Rep. Robin Bartleman, D-Weston.
The closest state currently offering abortion care beyond six weeks is North Carolina, followed by Virginia.
“With this 6-week ban, there will be an abortion desert in the south of our country,” said Planned Parenthood of South, East and North Florida CEO and President Alexandra Mandado.
Added Woodson: “This extreme ban on abortion is already having a devastating impact on women, not just across the state, but across the entire southern region, and Black women suffer higher rates of material mortality and violence against women.”
Some providers told Local 10 News they are looking ahead to November, when Florida voters will have the chance to cast ballots on a constitutional amendment pertaining to abortion access, which can be read at the bottom of this page.
“Independents, Republicans, Democrats, they all want to protect reproductive freedom and they need to do it,” said Bartleman. “This is our one small window this November.”
Local 10 News reached out to GOP U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, given that his Democratic challenger, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, also spoke at Monday’s news conference, and received the following statement:
“Everyone knows that Senator Rick Scott supports the right to life. Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell does not. Floridians agree that there should be some reasonable limits placed on abortion. Senator Scott has been very clear where he stands: No national bans, with the consensus at 15 weeks with limitations for rape, incest and life of the mother. Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell takes an extreme view opposing any common-sense limits on abortion.”
Jonathan Turcotte - Team Rick Scott Spokesman