National Organization for Women

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Florida NOW Statement Calling on Ron DeSantis as Governor of the Supposed “Free State of Florida”, to Veto Abortion Ban Bill.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 11, 2022

Contact: Kat Duesterhaus | communications@flnow.org | 772-267-6353

Orlando – Today, Debbie Deland, president of Florida National Organization for Women, released the following statement in anticipation of HB 5, Florida’s abortion ban bill, arriving on the Governor’s desk for approval or veto.

Statement from Debbie Deland, president of Florida NOW:

“Ron DeSantis travels the state crusading for his version of freedom. He admonishes young people to remove masks and school systems to end Covid safety protocols to protect liberty. Throughout the pandemic, he has seen such measures as limiting Floridians’ ability to live their lives freely, inhibiting our pursuit of happiness.

“Yet, this same man has promised to sign the most draconian of restrictions on bodily autonomy in Florida history. The abortion ban bill he is waiting to hit his desk for signature criminalizes doctors who offer abortion care to patients beyond 15 weeks of pregnancy, with no exceptions for most fetal abnormalities or for survivors of rape or incest.

“A long-held principle of the National Organization for Women is our affirmation that reproductive rights are issues of life and death, not mere matters of ‘choice’. The right to abortion is fundamental to a person’s participation in the social and economic life of the nation. Generations have relied on this right to shape their lives and futures.

“Floridians do not need cruel bans that result in the criminalization of medical care. Every person and every pregnancy is different. The complexities of this must be acknowledged. Patients’ and families’ decisions must be listened to and respected. One-size-fits-all restrictions have no place in health care delivery or the state’s public health laws.

“NOW knows that access to safe and legal abortion is a cornerstone to reproductive justice. Restricting reproductive rights is anti-justice, anti-public health, and anti-liberty. Governor DeSantis, the leader of the supposed ‘freedom state’ of Florida must veto HB 5.”

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2022 Florida NOW State Council Meeting

Time for our first– scheduled for February 6th at 1 pm on Zoom. All at-large members and chapter delegates please register here: https://forms.gle/8aSkF2BAt9ffPDE37
Important stuff on the agenda include electing a Membership Director / Co-Director and our Communication Director (someone is sure to nominate Kat Duesterhaus who has been doing a great job on an interim basis!), reports highlighting our Task Forces and legislative priorities, and a quick round of learning what chapter meeting ideas have been working.
After you register, you will receive the agenda and the Zoom link a few days before the meeting is held.

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FL NOW Will Do “Whatever It Takes” To Fight For Reproductive Freedom in Florida

Florida National Organization for Women (NOW) announces a forceful statewide campaign to protect reproductive health and rights.

Leaders for the organization pledge to do “whatever it takes”
to ensure Floridians’ reproductive rights.

TALLAHASSEE- Faced with the introduction of a statewide abortion ban bill (H.B. 5) by Florida Representative Grail (R-Vero Beach), Florida NOW President Debbie Deland stated, “Several issues make this bill unconscionable.

“Any abortion ban in Florida would make reproductive health care significantly more difficult to access for thousands of Floridians,” said Deland. “Like all abortion restrictions, the burdens imposed by abortion bans fall hardest on those who already face structural barriers to health care – especially Black, Indigenous and other people of color, young people, and undocumented people.”

“An abortion ban won’t do anything to address challenges facing Floridians right now,” said Deland. “Instead, it will harm our families and threaten our health. These bans are about control. Forcing pregnancy is unconscionable.”

Florida NOW Vice President Sandi Weeks reported on mental health risks, as well as physical health risks, posed by Rep. Grall’s’s proposed abortion ban, which provides no exemptions for rape and incest. “As a rape survivor, I can speak to the psychological damage suffered by those who become pregnant as a result of rape or incest,” she stated. “When I was raped, I knew to get emergency contraception. Had I found myself pregnant I risked becoming suicidal; I could see myself jumping off a bridge to kill myself. Just think how it would affect a girl, pregnant through incest.”

Deland and Weeks pledge to be leaders in the reproductive health and rights movement. They will continue Florida NOW’s work to ensure Floridians have all the rights, freedoms, and opportunities to control our lives at the most basic level: our bodies, our families, and our life’s path – and that includes the right and ability to have an abortion.