Florida House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell (D-Tampa) met with Administration officials and other state legislative leaders earlier today in Washington, D.C. to discuss reproductive freedom and maternal health in Florida and across the nation as Americans work to restore their overturned right to bodily autonomy.
“A woman’s medical decisions should only be between her, her family and her doctor. In fact, politicians should have no say in any pregnant person’s personal medical decisions,” said Leader Driskell. “What we’ve done here in Florida, and in too many states across the country, is strip away personal freedoms and the right for individuals to make choices about their own bodies. Rather than providing the kind of circumstances that actually make people’s lives more stable and more prosperous, we’ve passed laws that have inserted the judgment of politicians into the most intimate decisions of heart and home.
“Moreover, the United States’ maternal mortality rate leads that of any other high-wealth country, and the numbers are far more abysmal for Black and Hispanic women. Today’s roundtable not only moved us closer to strategies for reestablishing a baseline right to reproductive freedom for all Americans, it also allowed us to raise awareness regarding the current maternal health crisis. More than anything, I want to see all Americans have the freedom to lead a healthy, prosperous, and safe life, and I am encouraged that the Biden-Harris Administration’s priorities are similarly aligned with that vision. I look forward to partnering with the Biden Administration and legislative leaders across the country to secure bodily autonomy and reproductive justice for all Americans nationally.”
