House Bill 7, the near-total abortion ban bill, was approved along a party line vote during today’s Health and Human Services (HHS) Committee. This was its final committee before going before the House for a final vote. Florida House Democrats provided the following statements.
“Without the protections of Roe v. Wade, I now have fewer rights than my mother did. Unless something changes, Ron DeSantis’ government will force this unpopular abortion ban onto women across the state.
The majority of Floridians want to protect access to reproductive health care. This ban is the agenda of an extremist minority with more power in our capitol than in our communities back home. This incredibly personal decision should be between a woman and her doctor, family, and faith. Nobody asked for Ron DeSantis, or the Florida Legislature, to make this decision for us. And we know that low income families, women with disabilities, minority women, and especially Black women, will be disproportionately hurt by this new abortion ban.
We believe that everyone’s body is their own, and they have a God given right to freely make decisions for themselves,” said Leader Fentrice Driskell (D-Tampa).
“The thirst for power and control knows no bounds within the Republican Party of Florida. Today members of the public were limited and cut off as they tried to express opposition to HB7. This abortion ban is clearly unpopular and will strip us away of our freedoms. We must keep fighting, regardless of the odds,” said Representative Anna V. Eskamani (D-Orlando).
“As someone who was faced with the decision to end a much-wanted pregnancy because of an abnormal fetus, I can tell you it is a deeply personal and painful decision. Florida politicians did not belong in that exam room with me. A 6-week abortion ban is essentially an outright ban – bottom line, the majority of women have irregular periods and will not know they are pregnant at 6 weeks. Last year, we warned Florida’s women that they would not stop at 15 weeks. The provision for rape victims is window dressing, requiring paper work and police reports re-traumatizes the victim; only 2 in 10 women actually report a sexual assault. The majority of Floridians do not support this and it incomprehensible that my daughters will grow up with less rights than me,” said Representative Robin Bartleman (D-Weston).
