With the planned hearing of SB 300 in today’s Senate Health Policy Committee, Senator Linda Stewart (D – Orange County) had the following to say regarding the bill that would prohibit the termination of a pregnancy after six weeks.
“The six week ban is an insult to women and a direct attack on our fundamental and reproductive healthcare rights. I trust women to be able to make their own decisions in life and decide what is best for themselves,” said Stewart. “Just over a year after reducing the number of weeks to obtain an abortion to 15, the legislature has once again decided to take up the issue of women’s bodily autonomy by looking to reduce the already limiting time constraint to a mere six weeks.”
In addition to the ban on abortions after six weeks the bill limits access to medications used to induce an abortion by banning the use of telehealth services and requiring in person appointments. In order to receive a drug to terminate a pregnancy an individual would be required to have a physical appointment for the medication to be prescribed and distributed.
“The six-week ban limits abortion care to only four weeks after conception, and only one week realistically, from when a person could find out they are pregnant. Given this constraint, the state of Florida now expects them to get an appointment with two physicians and make this kind of a major decision in just a couple of weeks? Many young women have irregular menstrual cycles and may not be aware they are pregnant. This entire piece of legislation is ludicrous, unrealistic, and just another major overreach by Florida’s big government into our everyday lives.”
“A majority of Floridians support access to abortion and agree it should be legal in most cases. I will be encouraging all of my colleagues to listen to the people and vote against this unnecessary bill,” said Stewart.
