2015 Legislative Report Overview
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2015 Legislative Report Overview Communities rely on Planned Parenthood for accurate, accessible, nonjudgmental information and affordable quality care and for almost 100 Session by years, Planned Parenthood has been America’s most trusted provider of reproductive health care. In 2013, nearly 80,000 women, men and the Numbers teens turned to Planned Parenthood in Florida for health care services, including lifesaving cancer screenings, testing and treatment of sexually Over 100 transmitted infections, contraception services and abortion care. Our primary goal remains to reduce volunteers the number of unintended pregnancies through preventive services and education. While teen traveled to pregnancy rates have declined significantly since Tallahassee. 1990, the number of repeat teen births remains high. Instead of focusing on access to quality health care, They held this legislative session, elected officials introduced six bills (three in each chamber) that once again 72 meetings focused on making it harder for women to access with state reproductive health services. Some bills threatened to make it nearly impossible for Planned legislators. Parenthood to provide basic preventive health care services to women and access to safe and legal abortion. Supporters Ultimately, the legislature passed a bill mandating that a woman have two separate in-person made over consultations with a physician, a minimum of 24 hours apart, before being able to access abortion 8,000 services. Even when a woman has already received phone calls. state-mandated counseling and made a deliberate and fully informed decision, she will now be forced to wait 24 hours before having an abortion. Responding to pressure from reproductive rights Supporters advocates, the legislation was finally amended by took over the bill sponsor to include exceptions for victims of rape, incest, domestic violence and human trafficking but only if they provide documentation 30,000 of the crime. While any exception to the online actions. requirements of the original mandatory abortion delay bill is a symbolic step in the right direction, 1 unfortunately, the legislation would now further traumatize rape survivors. Social Media State laws that require mandatory delays before a woman can get an abortion do not offer any health benefits. They result in increased expenses, travel difficulties, and medical risks. Inherent in this bill is the unfounded assumption that women who decide to have an abortion don’t carefully consider their decision. The reasons women decide to have an abortion are complicated and legislation should not be introduced with the intent to shame, coerce or judge women. The decision about whether to choose adoption, end a pregnancy, or raise a child is private and personal. The decision should remain between a woman, her family, and her faith, with the counsel of her doctor or health care provider. This year, with the support of coalition partners and through grassroots efforts, Planned Parenthood successfully defeated two other bills that attempted to restrict women’s access to health care. This report provides an overview of the bills that Planned Parenthood worked on during the 2015 Legislative Session in conjunction with our allies and supporters. Photos on the Cover From top left to bottom right: Rep. John Cortes with volunteers from Orlando Orlando volunteers speak out at an opening day press conference Petition delivery by volunteers from Planned Parenthood of Southwest, Central Florida Supporters at a Senate Committee hearing Volunteers meet with Senator Darren Soto Volunteers from Palm Beach and Broward counties join in a Healthcare Coverage Gap press event 2 2015 Anti-Reproductive Health Legislation SB 724/HB 633 “Termination of Pregnancies”/ “Informed Patient Consent” by Sen. Flores, Rep. Sullivan Co-Sponsors: Ahern, Albritton, Avila, Baxley, Burgess, Burton, Cortes (B), Costello,Cummings, Drake, Eisnaugle, Gaetz (M), Hill, La Rosa, Mayfield, Metz, Moraitis, Plakon, Raburn,Rodrigues (R), Rooney, Santiago, Stevenson, Stevenson, Stone, Van Zant SB 724/HB 633 requires a 24-hour mandatory delay after informed consent before obtaining an abortion. The bill requires a physician to be in the same room with a patient to receive consent and for the consent to be at least 24 hours before the procedure. STATUS: PASSED. The legislation passed the Senate 26-13 and the House 77-42. It will go into effect July 1, 2015. SB 920/HB 147 “Relating to Abortion” by Sen. Stargel, Rep. Hill Co-Sponsors: Reps. Ahern, Baxley, Gonzalez, Moraitis, Plakon, Rodrigues, Van Zant, Costello SB 920/HB 147 would have severely restricted access to safe and legal abortion by requiring abortion providers to obtain admitting privileges at a local hospital, which is not a requirement for being a licensed medical provider, is not a designation of the quality of the provider, and medical experts agree would not make patients safer. STATUS: Died in Committee. SB 1502/HB 247 “Florida for Life” By Sen. Evers, Rep. Van Zant Co-Sponsors: Rep. Ray Rodrigues (R) SB 1502/HB 247 is government interference at its worst and would have banned safe, legal abortion in Florida. This legislation provided no exception for survivors of rape, sexual assault or incest, and only very limited exceptions for the life and health of the woman and narrowly defined medical emergencies. Women don’t turn to politicians for advice about mammograms, prenatal care, or cancer treatments. And politicians should not be involved in a woman’s personal medical decisions about her pregnancy. STATUS: Died in Committee. For additional information, please visit www.fappa.org. 3 2015 Other Legislation of Concern SB 1464/HB 583 “Single-Sex Public Facilities” by Sen. Dean, Rep. Artilles Co-Sponsors: Reps. Baxley, Campbell, Gaetz, Hill, Moraitis, Rodrigues, and Stone HB 583 would have allowed blatant discrimination against the transgender community. The bill required that use of single-sex facilities be restricted to persons of the sex for which the facility is designated and prohibits knowingly and willfully entering a single-sex public facility designated for or restricted to persons of another biological sex. This legislation targeting transgender individuals sought to dehumanize them by preventing access to facilities in public spaces. STATUS: Died in Committee. HB 7111 “Relating to Conscience Protection for Actions of Private Child-Placing Agencies” by Rep. Brodeur Co-Sponsors: Reps. Porter, Ahern, Albritton, Baxley, Broxson, Drake HB 7111 would have given child placement agencies subcontracted by the state a license to discriminate and deny vulnerable children loving homes due to religious or moral objections unrelated to child welfare. Doing so would greatly exacerbate the existing shortage of available families, and harm children, limiting their opportunities to be placed with qualified and loving families. STATUS: Died in Committee For additional information, please visit www.fappa.org. 4 2015 Other Legislation of Interest In addition to the attacks on women’s health introduced this session, there were several bills that would have protected women, men, and their families. Below are bills that the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates supported: SB 156/HB 33 “Competitive Workforce Act” by Sen. Abruzzo, Rep. Raschein Co-sponsors: Sens. Bullard, Margolis, Ring, Smith (C) and Soto. Reps. Berman, Cortes (J), Cruz, Dudley, Edwards, Fitzenhagen, Geller, Goodson, Hager, Jacobs, Jenne, Jones (S), Kerner, La Rosa, Latvala, Miller, Moskowitz, Murphy, Narain, Peters, Pilon, Plasencia, Rader, Rehwinkel Vasilinda, Richardson, Rodriguez (J), Rooney, Rouson, Santiago, Stark, Stewart, and Watson (C). This legislation sought to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity or expression in public employment, public lodging establishments and public food service establishments. STATUS: Did not see legislative action. SB 982/HB 625 “Pregnancy Discrimination Act” by Sen. Thompson, Rep. Cortes (B) Co-sponsors: Sens. Gibson and Smith. Reps. Berman (Primary Co-Sponsor), Artilles, Campbell, Edwards, Fullwood, Raschein, Rehwinkel Vasilinda, and Williams. This legislation sought to bring Florida in line with the Civil Rights Act of 1972 and protect pregnant women from workplace discrimination. The Senate passed it unanimously, and the House passed it with an overwhelming majority. STATUS: Passed. SB 98/HB 25 “Helen Gordon Davis Fair Pay Protection Act” by Sen. Joyner, Rep. Cruz Co-Sponsors: Sens. Sachs and Soto. Reps. Jenne, Pafford, Rehwinkel Vasilinda, Richardson, Watson (C), Williams This legislation would have established the Governor’s Recognition Award for Pay Equity in the Workplace and recognized the importance of equal pay for equal work for women. STATUS: Did not see legislative action. 5 2015 Other Legislation of Interest (Cont) SB 88/HB 8001 “Equal Rights for Men and Women” by Sen. Joyner, Rep. Berman Co-Sponsors: Sen. Margolis. Reps. Jenne, Murphy, Pafford, Rader, Watson (C), and Williams. This bill would have ratified the proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to equal rights for men and women. STATUS: Did not see legislative action. SB 512/HB 321 “Relating to HIV Testing” by Sen. Thompson, Rep. Avila Co-sponsors: Sen. Soto. Reps. Edwards (Primary Co-Sponsor), DuBose, Jones (S), Pigman, Pritchett, Rogers and Williams. This legislation amends current informed consent protocols for HIV testing in Florida. The legislation allows health care professionals to test patients