Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida Inc. V. Philip
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Case 4:16-cv-00321-RH-CAS Document 1 Filed 06/02/16 Page 1 of 49 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA Tallahassee Division PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL FLORIDA, and PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF SOUTH FLORIDA AND THE TREASURE COAST D/B/A No. ____________ PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF SOUTH, EAST, AND NORTH FLORIDA, Plaintiffs, v. CELESTE PHILIP, in her official capacity as State Surgeon General and Secretary of Health, Florida Department of Health, and ELIZABETH DUDEK, in her official capacity as Secretary, Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, Defendants. COMPLAINT FOR INJUNCTIVE AND DECLARATORY RELIEF Plaintiffs, by and through their attorneys, bring this Complaint against the above-named Defendants, their employees, agents, delegatees, and successors in office, and in support thereof state the following: Case 4:16-cv-00321-RH-CAS Document 1 Filed 06/02/16 Page 2 of 49 INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT 1. This civil action is brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to vindicate rights secured by the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the U.S. Constitution, the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and the right to privacy and equal protection under the Florida Constitution. 2. Seeking to punish, harass, and stigmatize the state’s abortion providers for their and their patients’ exercise of constitutional rights, the Florida legislature has enacted HB 1411 (“HB 1411” or the “Act”), an omnibus abortion restrictions bill which, if permitted to take effect in its entirety, threatens to reduce access to basic reproductive health care for thousands of Florida residents. Act of Mar. 25, 2016, ch. 2016-150, 2016 Fla. Laws (amending Fla. Stat. § 390.011 et seq.). The Act is attached as Exhibit A. 3. Plaintiffs Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida (“PPSWCF”) and Planned Parenthood of South Florida and the Treasure Coast d/b/a Planned Parenthood of South, East and North Florida (“PPSENFL”) challenge three provisions of the Act, which will take effect, absent an order of this Court, on July 1, 2016. 4. First, Section 2 of the Act (the “Defunding Provision”) categorically disqualifies all abortion providers from continuing to receive certain government funds that they are otherwise eligible and qualified to receive. For decades, - 2 - Case 4:16-cv-00321-RH-CAS Document 1 Filed 06/02/16 Page 3 of 49 Plaintiffs have used such funds to provide high-quality, non-abortion reproductive health care and education services to Florida residents, particularly low-income and uninsured men, women and teens who would otherwise be unable to access care. These services include pap smears and other cancer screenings, contraceptive counseling, vasectomies, pregnancy testing and related services, screenings for HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections (“STIs”), and sexual health education. 5. Because of the Defunding Provision, Plaintiffs will be kicked out of these funding programs, all of which rely not on state funds, but rather on federal funds that are merely administered by the Florida Department of Health (“FDOH”) or on local funds administered by local government agencies. This is so because Plaintiffs provide abortion services at some of their health centers using entirely separate, non-governmental funds. The principal effect of the Defunding Provision will be to deprive low-income men, women, and teens of the much-needed and vital health services that Plaintiffs currently provide. Plaintiffs fear that STI infections will spread, cancers will go undiagnosed, teen pregnancy rates will rise, and the health of low-income Floridians will suffer. 6. The Defunding Provision violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the right to privacy under the Florida Constitution because it disqualifies Plaintiffs from receiving certain government funds because - 3 - Case 4:16-cv-00321-RH-CAS Document 1 Filed 06/02/16 Page 4 of 49 they provide constitutionally protected abortions outside of any government program, and it violates equal protection by disqualifying abortion providers, and only abortion providers, from receiving government funds without any justification for doing so other than the State Legislature’s animus towards abortion. 7. Second, Section 4 of the Act requires Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration (“AHCA”) to inspect annually at least 50% of all patient records generated since the provider’s last abortion license inspection (the “Inspection Requirement”). In 2015, there were more than 71,000 abortions performed in Florida. The Inspection Requirement is both unprecedented and unwarranted: no other health care facilities in Florida are subject to such invasive inspections, and there is no health or safety rationale for imposing the Inspection Requirement on abortion providers, and abortion providers alone. The Inspection Requirement thus violates equal protection because it targets abortion providers and abortion patients’ medical records for dissimilar treatment without any valid justification for doing so. In addition, by subjecting Plaintiffs to unannounced, warrantless, and baseless searches of at least 50% of their patients’ records, the Inspection Requirement violates Plaintiffs’ and their patients’ rights under the Fourth Amendment to be free from unreasonable search and seizures. 8. Moreover, because of the Inspection Requirement, state employees will have wide-ranging access to the most intimate and sensitive medical details of - 4 - Case 4:16-cv-00321-RH-CAS Document 1 Filed 06/02/16 Page 5 of 49 over 35,500 Florida women, such as their HIV status, drug and alcohol use, mental health history, and sexual history, as well as the details of their abortion. As a result, the Inspection Requirement violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the right to privacy under the Florida Constitution, as it invades the informational privacy rights of women seeking abortions, who can no longer trust that their private reproductive health-related medical records will remain confidential. 9. Third, Plaintiffs challenge Section 1 of the Act, which alters the definitions of the trimesters of pregnancy (“Trimester Definition”) as it relates to clinics that provide abortions using terms that have no medical meaning and that leave physicians unable to determine when each trimester begins and ends. This vague definition leaves Plaintiffs and their physicians vulnerable to enforcement actions and professional licensure consequences if they guess about the meaning of the provisions incorrectly, in violation of the Due Process Clause. Importantly, because of these risks to Plaintiffs and their physicians, Plaintiffs will be forced to limit, without any medical justification, the abortions that can be performed at their clinics that are only licensed to perform first trimester abortions, and subject some of their patients to invasive medical procedures, even if not medically indicated. Finally, by limiting the scope of Plaintiffs’ licenses to perform first trimester - 5 - Case 4:16-cv-00321-RH-CAS Document 1 Filed 06/02/16 Page 6 of 49 abortions, the Trimester Definition also interferes with Plaintiffs’ protected property interests in these licenses, in violation of due process. 10. Without relief from this Court, the Defunding Provision, the Inspection Requirement, and the Trimester Definition will cause significant and irreparable harm to Plaintiffs, their patients, and the communities they serve. If the Defunding Provision goes into effect, Plaintiffs will be forced to eliminate services, including life-saving health care services and teen pregnancy prevention initiatives, and will be forced to shut down one of their health centers. Many low- income Floridians will lose their trusted health care provider, and will have few, if any, options for accessing the vital health services and educational programs that Plaintiffs currently provide. The elimination of staff positions and the closure of a health center, among other things, will make it difficult to reconstitute these programs should Plaintiffs become eligible for the funding once again. 11. Furthermore, the Inspection Requirement will expose at least 50% of Plaintiffs’ patients’ medical records to AHCA investigators, making it impossible for these patients to trust that their personal medical information will remain confidential, and subjecting Plaintiffs to onerous and constitutionally impermissible inspections not imposed on any other health care licensees in the state. Finally, the vague Trimester Definition will expose Plaintiffs and their physicians to the threat of significant penalties (including professional licensure - 6 - Case 4:16-cv-00321-RH-CAS Document 1 Filed 06/02/16 Page 7 of 49 consequences), will limit the patients who can receive abortions at Plaintiffs’ health centers with first trimester licenses, and will require certain patients to undergo unnecessary medical procedures. JURISDICTION AND VENUE 12. Subject-matter jurisdiction is conferred on this Court by 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1343, and 1367. 13. Plaintiffs’ claims for declaratory and injunctive relief are authorized by 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201 and 2202, by Rules 57 and 65 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and by the general legal and equitable powers of this Court. 14. Venue in this judicial district is proper under 28 U.S.C. § 1391. THE PARTIES A. Plaintiffs 15. Plaintiff PPSWCF is a not-for-profit corporation organized under the laws of Florida. PPSWCF and its predecessor entities have provided high quality reproductive health care for more than fifty years in Florida. PPSWCF operates eleven health centers across a service area of twenty-two counties in Southwest and Central Florida, providing health care and educational services to nearly 60,000 women, men and teens annually, many of whom are low-income. The family planning and other preventive health services provided by PPSWCF include well-women exams, contraception and contraceptive counseling, screening for - 7 - Case 4:16-cv-00321-RH-CAS Document 1 Filed 06/02/16 Page 8 of 49 breast cancer, screening and treatment for cervical cancer, vasectomies, and testing and treatment for certain STIs. And at certain health centers, PPSWCF also provides abortions.