Florida's abortion ban - bad for women and bad for business
4 April 2024, updated 9 April 2024
This week, the Florida Supreme Court overturned decades of legal precedent to rule that the present court, in contrast to the 1989 Florida Supreme Court, does not believe that the privacy protections in the Florida Constitution extend to abortion, effectively allowing Florida to ban the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy. They believe they know better than the prior court. This was comparable to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which by a 5-4 vote overturned 50 years of precedent to rule that the present court, in contrast to the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court, does not believe that abortion is a constitutional right. They also, apparently, have superior wisdom.
The ban, which will go into effect automatically within 30 days, is a public health disaster that will cause a tremendous amount of suffering—suffering that’s sure to hit the most marginalized groups the hardest.
People are going to be forced to carry pregnancies they don’t want. They’re going to have their health and lives endangered by this law. Women will have to empty their savings account to get out-of-state care. They’ll be tied to abusive partners or be unable to finish school.
It is going to be a nightmare. Please, let’s not forget that.
This ban will make it nearly impossible to get an abortion in the American South.
… the court has cut off nearly all abortion access across the South, where all other states have either implemented similar bans or outlawed abortion entirely since Roe v. Wade was overturned.
The new law will affect more women seeking abortions in the first trimester than any other single abortion ban to date, upending an already precarious new landscape for abortion access that has developed in the wake of the June 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. The Washington Post.
States with abortion bans
This ban not only has implications for women and girls living in Florida but for those traveling to Florida for a short time. Many women and girls do not know they are pregnant at 6 weeks and if early pregnancy complications arise, such as an ectopic pregnancy, they are at risk of getting inadequate care in antiabortion states, as noted in these stories:
Axios has more on the horrific report out of Louisiana showing that doctors are giving women with life-threatening pregnancies C-sections instead of abortions.
As noted by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists:
Abortion bans threaten to impede ectopic pregnancy treatment. For example ...
Legislation that bans abortion care for those with an ectopic pregnancy or mandates how clinicians treat ectopic pregnancies does not reflect the clinical reality of ectopic pregnancy management and could result in delays or even denials of care.
Abortion bans—even those with exceptions for ectopic pregnancy—can generate confusion for patients and health care professionals and can result in delays to treatment. Health care professionals should never have to navigate vague legal or statutory language to determine whether the law allows them to exercise their professional judgment and provide evidence-based care.
Any application of an abortion ban that affects those in need of treatment for ectopic pregnancy is inappropriate and will certainly cost lives.
As a business CEO with numerous female staff, I have determined that business travel is not a good idea in antiabortion states, including Florida, Louisiana and Texas, where many conferences are held. These are great states otherwise to visit. But the people of these states have elected governors and state legislators who have passed laws that will harm women and girls by denying them necessary reproductive care. In addition, many antiabortion states have criminalized assisting women and girls in any way to get abortions, such as giving them advice or a ride to the airport or out of state.
Women’s reproductive rights are a partisan issue. If Republicans take power in Washington, D.C., we can anticipate a nationwide ban on surgical and medical abortions. There will also likely be travel bans to other countries to get abortions and assisting anyone to get an abortion will likely be made a felony.
If President Joe Biden is reelected and the Democrats have strong majorities in the House and Senate, there will likely be legislation guaranteeing both medical and surgical abortions in all states and prohibiting restrictions on reproductive health care. In addition, Democrats will abolish the Comstock Act that Republicans are planning to use as an alternative mechanism to outlaw abortions.
Healthcare professionals and all rational Americans should support reproductive health care for women and girls, even if they might make different decisions for themselves. This means we must be more active politically to support candidates and political parties who support this right.
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