Reproductive rights advocates say they ‘dodged a bullet’ this Session

As the Republican-controlled Legislature wraps up the Regular Session, at least one group is happy with how little was accomplished.

Planned Parenthood’s political arm issued a statement cheering the failure to pass several bills the group said would be harmful to women and minors.

“Today, the Florida Legislature concluded a historically unproductive legislative session that one senator in the majority rightfully said they ought to be embarrassed about,” said Michelle Grimsley Shindano, Planned Parenthood Action’s Director of Policy & Government Affairs.

She appeared to reference comments by Sen. Don Gaetz, a Panhandle Republican and former Senate President. This week, he lamented how little was accomplished in the last 60 days despite Republicans holding supermajorities in both chambers.

“As Republicans — we have Republican Governor, Republican House, and a Republican Senate — we don’t have any Democrats to argue with anymore,” Gaetz told press.

But Planned Parenthood was fine to see the GOP engage in fighting, especially at the expense of several bills.

“While the inability for the party in power to work together has caused great harm to Floridians suffering through an affordability crisis, the conflicts between chambers did contribute to advocates being able to stop a spate of bills intended to make it harder for Floridians, young and old, to access the reproductive health care they want and deserve,” Grimsley Shindano said.

“In short, we dodged a bullet, but it wasn’t for lack of effort on the part of some powerful politicians who will keep trying to make life harder for Floridians already living under a near-total abortion ban. We know the bills we fended off this year will be back next year. And so will we.

The group specifically pointed at five filed bills aimed at restricting abortion and reproductive care.

HB 693 would have put Medicaid restrictions already in federal law into state statute regarding women. It passed in the House but had no Senate companion.

SB 1090 and HB 1071 would have restricted sex education materials about reproduction in Florida schools. It passed in the House but never moved in the upper chamber.

SB 166 and HB 173 would have forced health care providers to withhold treatment from minors in Florida without first obtaining written parental consent. It cleared House committees in the House but never was heard on the floor, while the Senate never held a first Committee vote.

SB 164 and HB 289 would create civil liability for the death of an unborn child, but Planned Parenthood viewed the bills as a means to take rights away from pregnant patients and give them to abusers. Again, this passed in the House but didn’t reach the floor in the Senate

Finally, SB 1374 and HB 663 would have created a cause of action to seek damages and challenge illegal abortions, something Planned Parenthood compared to a bounty system to infringe on the right to choose. The bill did not move in either chamber.

“We won’t rest until our elected representatives start representing us,” Grimsley Shindano said.

“These politicians know very well that Floridians support access to birth control, IVF, medically accurate sex education, and abortion care, and as long as these fundamental rights are under attack, we will continue to show up to advocate for Floridians by supporting the Reproductive Freedom Act, and continuing to fight back against these attacks on our freedoms, no matter what.”