The Quickie: Florida's 6-Week Abortion Ban Goes into Effect Tomorrow

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 6-week abortion ban takes effect tomorrow and a state fights round up.

ONE DAY UNTIL FLORIDA’S SIX-WEEK ABORTION BAN: On Wednesday, May 1, a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy will take effect in Florida, cutting off access for millions of people across the south. Across the state, abortion providers are bracing for the impact, adding appointments and fortifying their patient navigation programs to help people seek care outside the region. 

Tomorrow, Florida’s Planned Parenthood affiliates will host press conferences with patients and providers to address the abortion ban and the road ahead for access. Both press events will be live streamed on Facebook; to attend in person, please RSVP. 

At 8:30 AM ET, Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida will hold a conference at their Sarasota health center. Livestream here. 

At 10 AM ET, Planned Parenthood of South, East and North Florida will hold a conference at their Golden Glades, Miami health center. Livestream here.  

STATE FIGHTS ROUND UP: Tennessee governor signs abortion travel ban for minors; Maine and California work to protect abortion providers. 

• Arizona: In a major win for reproductive freedom in Arizona, the House voted to repeal the state’s 1864 total abortion ban. The bill, HB 2677, still needs to pass in the Senate. 
• California: In response to Arizona’s total abortion ban, Governor Newsom said he plans to propose a bill that would allow Arizona abortion providers to become certified faster in California. Newsom said the bill would both help Arizona providers who may move to CA and support the anticipated increase in out-of-state patients coming to CA for care. 
• Maine: Governor Mills signed a new “shield law” that aims to protect providers of reproductive care and care for transgender people in Maine from hostile attacks based on laws in other states and protect access to essential health care in the state. 
• Missouri: The Missouri legislature passed a bill defunding abortion providers and their affiliates, which would include Planned Parenthood clinics, from the Medicaid program. The bill now heads to Governor Parson’s desk. If signed into law, the bill would go into effect on August 28. 
• Tennessee: The Tennessee legislature passed a ban on abortion support for minors. The bill would prohibit adults from helping minors access legal abortion without parental consent. The bill was modeled after a similar law enacted in Idaho last year. The legislature also passed a bill criminalizing adults who help minors access legal gender-affirming care without parental consent, sending it to Governor Lee, as well. Last week, Governor Lee signed HB 2435 into law, requiring any family life curriculum that directly or indirectly addresses human development or sexuality to include a three-minute ultrasound or computer animation of a developing fetus and explicitly lists the misleading, medically inaccurate Live Action “Meet Baby Olivia” video as an example of a compliant video.
• Nebraska: Gov. Jim Pillen signed a bill that diverts as much as $500,000 in taxpayer money next year to fund anti-abortion “crisis pregnancy centers” through the use of tax credits. The funding cap increases to $1 million in subsequent years under the new law.  Politicians slipped the tax credit into a robust amendment to LB 937, an unrelated revenue committee bill.