The Quickie: Cowardly and Cruel: Gov. DeSantis Signs Near Total Abortion Ban
For Immediate Release: April 14, 2023
Welcome to “The Quickie” — Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s daily tipsheet on the top health care & reproductive rights stories of the day. You can read “The Quickie'' online here.
In today’s Quickie: Gov. DeSantis signs FL 6-week ban, DOJ and manufacturer appeal mifepristone case to SCOTUS, and STIs are on the rise.
GOV. DESANTIS COWARDLY SIGNS NEAR TOTAL ABORTION BAN IN THE DEAD OF THE NIGHT: Last night, Gov. DeSantis quietly and privately signed the single greatest attack on Floridians’ right to abortion, a six-week abortion ban with incredibly limited exceptions, and additional access restrictions like a mandatory 24-hour waiting period. While the ban is not in effect yet, six weeks is before most people even know they’re pregnant, making this a near total abortion ban that would severely limit one of the southeast’s last access points for care.
“Despite clear evidence of harm, they have doubled down on abortion bans to deprive millions of people of essential health care,” President of Planned Parenthood Action Fund Alexis McGill Johnson said. “These policy decisions disproportionately hurt Black and Latino people, LGBTQ+ people, and people with low incomes due to systemic racism and discrimination.”
Gov. DeSantis — who is definitely not six feet tall — signed the bill in the middle of the night, fully aware of the political consequences of continuing to push an anti-abortion agenda as we continue to see backlash and outrage across the country because of abortion bans and restrictions.
“Ron DeSantis continues to put his political ambitions over the rights and well being of Floridians,” Jenny Lawson, Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Votes, said. “He’s not looking out for their best interests — he’s thinking only of himself and his future presidential campaign. Make no mistake: this dangerous decision will backfire and harm the very people he is supposed to protect. Nearly 2 in 3 Floridians want abortion to be legal in all or most cases, and they won’t look kindly on someone who takes away their freedom for their own personal gain.”
“Gov. DeSantis, and many lawmakers in Florida, are hellbent on tyrannical control of our bodies,” Laura Goodhue, Executive Director of Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, said. “This shameful abortion ban is only the tip of the iceberg. Just this past year, they have banned access to life-affirming reproductive and gender-affirming health care for millions of people, limited what children can learn about their bodies in schools, and diverted funding from critical health care programs toward stigmatizing, anti-abortion frauds… Gov. DeSantis’s audition for the presidency doesn’t define us as Floridians. We will continue to fight for our freedom to control our bodies and our futures.”
Read more at the 19th, the Root, and the Huffington Post.
DOJ, MANUFACTURER SEEK EMERGENCY STAY FROM SUPREME COURT IN MIFEPRISTONE CASE: This morning, both the Department of Justice and manufacturer Danco Laboratories filed emergency applications to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the court to block the actions taken against FDA’s approval of mifepristone by the lower courts in the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA case. Severely limiting restrictions on mifepristone are set to take effect at 1 a.m. Eastern time tonight, absent a stay from the Supreme Court.
"This application concerns unprecedented lower court orders countermanding FDA’s scientific judgment and unleashing regulatory chaos by suspending the existing FDA-approved conditions of use for mifepristone," Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, representing the FDA, wrote in the DOJ’s appeal to the Supreme Court.
Alexis McGill Johnson, President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, reacted to the announcement that the DOJ and Danco would seek emergency relief from the Supreme Court, saying:
“Mifepristone is safe and effective, and it’s critical to ensuring millions of people have access to medication abortion and miscarriage care. The Supreme Court should move swiftly to block the disastrous rulings threatening to undermine the entire FDA’s approval process and authority. Both the very legitimacy of our drug approval system and access to medication abortion are on the line.”
Read more at CNBC and the New York Times.
NEW CDC REPORT: STIS ARE ON THE RISE: According to new data from the CDC, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are on the rise, with no signs of slowing down. Preliminary data from nationwide surveillance in 2021 shows 2.5 million cases of syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea were reported. The report noted that disruptions to prevention and care services due to COVID-19 likely continued into 2021.
“The newly released STI data from the CDC makes clear the immediate need for improved access to sex education, and STI testing and treatment,” Dr. Sara C. Flowers, Vice President of Education & Training at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said. “Despite the overall decrease in STI reporting in 2020 due to COVID-19, STI cases are on the rise, and continue to increase disproportionately in communities that face the greatest systemic barriers to education, safer sex tools, and STI testing and treatment — including young people, especially those who are Black, Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaska Native.”
Read more at Hypebae.