Review: MAY 8 Hot Topics
Judi Hayes | Published on 5/14/2024
Abortion in Florida: On the Ballot and Off Limits
By Judi Hayes
The League of Women Voters of Orange County hosted a May 8 discussion on the hottest of topics — abortion, and the strict 6-week ban that went into effect in Florida this month. And while the very word once would have been whispered in hushed tones, in 2024 we are throwing open the window and shouting it out loud. A sold-out crowd of attendees of all ages and genders met with various advocacy groups, including Florida Access Network and Floridians Protecting Freedom (YES ON 4 this November), and heard from a powerhouse panel of experts about what collective action WE can take to take back our rights and limit government intrusion in the most intimate of decisions.
League president Tiffany Hughes, who works for Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, kicked off an information-packed roundtable discussion.
Panelists included Taylor Aguilera, the statewide organizing director for Floridians Protecting Freedom, the coalition behind the amendment to limit government interference with abortion; Kait Thomson, the senior director of public affairs at Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, who is also on the executive committee of Floridians Protecting Freedom; Amy Weintraub, the reproductive rights program director at Progress Florida and former chair of the League of Women Voters of Florida’s Reproductive Health and Justice Team, and Dr. Kathryn Berryman, board certified in obstetrics and gynecology, maternal-fetal medicine and obesity medicine, who specializes in complex pregnancy management and prenatal genetic counseling and testing. Guerdy Remy, the president of the Florida Access Network state board, was not able to join the discussion.
On May 1, a strict 6-week abortion ban went into place in Florida after the Florida Supreme Court upheld the state’s earlier 15-week abortion ban. Former Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Wells adamantly disagreed with the decision during the Q&A session following the presentation.
The 6-week cutoff falls well before most women know they’re pregnant and imposes additional hardships — two in-person doctor visits and a 24-hour waiting period. The court decision effectively rendered abortion inaccessible in the entire southeast United States. The closest abortion providers after 6 weeks are in Charlotte, North Carolina. As soon as the ban took effect, providers in Florida saw patients traveling to Washington, D.C., Chicago, and New York— if they can afford the time off and if they have the money. The majority of abortions are sought by women who already have children and they find that traveling out of state for an abortion is almost impossible.
Dr. Berryman frequently sees patients who are in the 18th-20th weeks of pregnancy when their anatomy scan reveals anomalies that may warrant additional testing — and the new legislation makes that problematic by constraining options. These are difficult issues to tackle under ideal circumstances and finding out that your options are arbitrarily limited can be devastating to patients, she said.
Kait Thomson shared a story of a patient who had suffered from preeclampsia during all three of her previous pregnancies and who found out she was pregnant a fourth time very close to the date when the new law went into effect. She was able to make the decision she and her family felt comfortable with, but just 48 hours later, her options would be severely limited — and with
them, her chances for survival.
The panel also addressed what the audience can do. Organizations like Florida Access Network (FAN), which help patients travel for abortions, are already stretched thin, and they need money
and volunteers. More discussion about contraception is helpful — long-acting reversible contraception options are available and accessible. Medication abortion is still obtainable by mail order and is safe and effective up to 12 weeks. PlanCPills.org can direct anyone who needs a medication abortion to where they can find it, and the Massachusetts Access Project will shield providers from liability in states where access is criminalized.
Amendment 4 is officially on the ballot this fall, and it needs more than 60 percent approval to pass. The panelists agreed: we can all do our part by messaging consistently YES ON 4 to limit
government interference in personal healthcare decisions.
Sign up for Amendment 4’s virtual Super Saturday from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. Virtual Super Saturday
· Yes On 4 Florida! (mobilize.us) and learn how to reach out to voters already in your network.
Talk to neighbors and friends about the need for YES ON 4.