The Quickie: Florida Abortion Ban Leaves Black Families in the South Vulnerable

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: Florida’s abortion ban leaves Black families vulnerable and PP applauds EEOC’s plan to protect pregnant workers. 

FLORIDA ABORTION BAN LEAVES BLACK FAMILIES IN THE SOUTH VULNERABLE: This week, Capital B reported on Florida’s near-total abortion ban which is set to take effect in May. The law, which bans abortion at around six weeks of pregnancy — before most people know they are pregnant — will create an immense gap in access across the South, where more than half of Black people in the U.S. live. Per Melanie Andrade Williams, legislative manager for Planned Parenthood of South, East and North Florida, for many Floridians, “the devastating impact of what’s coming hasn’t sunk in yet.”

Alexia Rice-Henry, co-executive director of the abortion fund ARC-Southeast commented: “This ban, shrouded in white supremacy, is another attempt to take away our autonomy... It will add another hurdle, but won’t stop folks from having that ultimate say.”

Read more at Capital B. 

PLANNED PARENTHOOD APPLAUDS EEOC’S PLAN TO PROTECT PREGNANT WORKERS: On Monday, after 10 years of advocacy, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) finalized its regulation and implementation strategy for Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden in 2022. The law is a crucial step toward protecting pregnant people from workplace discrimination and includes guidelines for employers to provide recommendations for pregnancy and childbirth-related medical conditions. Abortion is explicitly listed among examples of pregnancy-related medical conditions that are protected from discrimination.

Since the Dobbs decision, these PWFA protections are important for patients who need to travel for out-of-state abortion care; none of the 21 states that ban abortion guarantee paid medical leave, and few have raised the minimum wage. Planned Parenthood Federation of America submitted a public comment letter in support of this rule and helped generate more than 25,000 supporter comments. Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, released the following statement in response:

“No employer should come between a worker and their ability to access health care or reasonable workplace accommodations — especially when pregnant. As we continue to navigate the onslaught of attacks on sexual and reproductive health, people must be able to get the care they need when they need — and should not have to fear losing their job to do so. This is a major step toward increasing workplace protections for pregnant people and workers who seek abortions. We applaud the EEOC and Biden administration for its commitment to seeing this through.”

Read the full statement here