On the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, thousands are expected to protest this Sunday as part of women’s marches across the state and country. Marches are taking place locally Jan. 22 in Tampa, Clearwater, and St. Pete.
- Clearwater Freedom Rally Noon, Pinellas County Courthouse, 315 Court St.
- St. Petersburg Bigger Than Roe Noon, 277 Central Ave, St. Petersburg
- Tampa Take Back The Fight 2 p.m., Joe Chillura Courthouse Square, 600 E Kennedy Blvd., Tampa
Texas now bans abortions after six weeks, before most birthing people know they are pregnant. The long and slow erosion of reproductive rights for Floridians is gaining speed. In 2015, Florida’s mandatory delay law required those seeking an abortion to wait 24 hours between the initial doctor’s visit and the procedure. That law was challenged in court, and the Florida Supreme Court upheld the law as unconstitutional in 2017. Thanks partly to the Dobbs decision, the mandatory delay law is back in place as of last year.
“That actually has had profound negative impacts on patients and providers,” Weintraub says. “Now people are having to make arrangements to see a doctor twice for a simple outpatient procedure, And they, of course also have a forced ultrasound involved and have to be offered state-produced biased materials.”
Last month, St. Pete City Council’s Health, Energy, Resilience and Sustainability or HERS committee agreed to revisit a reproductive rights resolution introduced by council member Richie Floyd, who describes the resolution as “basically our statement that we're not comfortable with the recent criminalization efforts (around abortion).”
Floyd wants funding from the city to go towards abortion access nonprofit the Tampa Bay Abortion Fund. Newly appointed council chair and committee member Brandi Gabbard voiced support for further discussion on a resolution, but no date has been set for the next meeting.
Weintraub tells CL that local ordinances can have a profound impact when abortion patients are being charged as criminals. The first city to pass such an ordinance was Austin, Texas, which has the Grace Act. Investigations and prosecution under the Grace Act are deprioritized for anyone with a pregnancy outcome.
Tampa passed its own reproductive rights resolution last fall after hitting roadblocks. Elected officials across the state remain wary, and weary, of provoking the Desantis administration. Especially after DeSantis suspended and suspended state attorney Andrew Warren last year after he voiced support for reproductive rights.
With abortion laws being left to the states to decide, it’s worth noting that Florida is one of only 10 states with constitutional protections in place. Since 1980, the right to privacy in Florida has remained the standard. But according to Guttmacher, in 2014, there were 86 abortion clinics in Florida, and now there are roughly 57. And three out of four Floridians live in a county that doesn’t have access to an abortion clinic.
Last month, Desantis was asked about supporting the “heartbeat bill,” referring to abortion bans at six weeks when a fetal heartbeat is detectable.
“I’m willing to sign great life legislation,” Desantis said. “That’s what I’ve always said I would do.”
The stakes for birthing people in Florida remain high.
“Cities need to take action, and they have the power to do it,” Weintraub says. “Sunday is an opportunity to show elected officials that we are watching them closely. Our will, the will of the people, is that we can control our own lives, and we know best what our families need.”
