Planned Parenthood has decided to pull out all of the stops in their effort to keep pushing Florida Gov. Rick Scott to veto a sweeping anti-abortion bill. They will star airing ads on television and digital platforms that will highlight how a Florida bill would increase regulations on abortion clinics and prohibit public funding for organizations such as Planned Parenthood that work with abortion clinics.
Women’s groups from around the country will be setting their sights on the Sunshine State as they feel that GOP lawmakers are in their words . Florida is openly waging an assault on women’s heath rights and making it harder women to get quality, affordable health care. The state’s conservative lawmakers are looking to go the same route as they did in the state of Texas.
The Florida law would also require abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital and perform the procedure in surgical centers — provisions similar to Texas restrictions that are now before the Supreme Court.
The goal of the Planned Parenthood backers is make this an issue both in the 2016 presidential election as well as the senate race in Florida. Scott has to act on the bill by March 26. At this point that no one on the Plan Parenthood team expect to keep Scott from signing the bill the goal is to try to mobilize abortions rights supporters
According to POLITICO the assault on Plan Parenthood by Florida law makers is going get some heavy push-back.
Planned Parenthood is making a six-figure ad buy, according to a spokeswoman who declined to be more specific. The group also put up a site with graphics that supporters can post on social media.
“We’re making sure Rick Scott hears directly from the women who stand to lose their care if he signs this bill,” Planned Parenthood Action Fund President Cecile Richards said in a statement. “What’s happening in Florida is part of an unprecedented attack on women’s access to basic health care in this country.”
Florida’s measure is just the latest bill increasing regulation of abortion providers, but it is perhaps the most expansive introduced by a state.
In recent days, Virginia’s Legislature approved a bill defunding Planned Parenthood and the Arizona and Missouri Legislatures are considering similar legislation. Twenty states have approved or considered anti-Planned Parenthood legislation since July — up from 15 states that stripped funding in the three years prior.
Abortion rights supporters such as Planned Parenthood warn that the bills will have a chilling effect on access for patients. Proponents say that the legislation is designed to improve health care safety.
State lawmakers’ efforts to defund the organization come after a federal effort failed. The Republican-controlled Congress voted to defund Planned Parenthood earlier this year, but President Barack Obama vetoed the legislation.
At this point Gov. Scott has not declared if he would sign the bill but his history would indicate that unless there is a ground swell against him, he is likely to sign the bill. By doing so we are likely to see Florida in court along with Texas on this open assault women’s health issues.
