In its ongoing effort to survive as a well-round reproductive health care provider, Planned Parenthood is fighting back against Florida lawmakers who are trying to legislate it out of existence.
On Thursday, News Service of Florida reported, Planned Parenthood launched a lawsuit with the hope of quashing a draconian new set of abortion laws.
Lawyers for Planned Parenthood argue that the State Legislature seeks to "punish, harass, and stigmatize the state's abortion providers for their and their patients' exercise of constitutional rights." The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Tallahassee last week, seeks a ruling that three parts of a sweeping law passed earlier this year are unconstitutional. These include harsher regulations of clinics and a more constrained definition of a trimester.
The complaint, in part, targets a section of the law that seeks to prevent state agencies, local governments and Medicaid managed-care plans from doing business with organizations that own, operate or are affiliated with clinics that perform elective abortions—and Planned Parenthood, a longtime target for conservative politicians, may as well have been scrawled in big, red letters in the bill.
As is the case in many states, Florida government agencies are already barred from funding elective abortions, but the new law takes things a step further. Planned Parenthood argues that the it would prevent clinics from receiving money to provide other non-abortive health services for women (and, in some cases, men), such as pap smears, pregnancy testing and screening for sexually transmitted diseases.
The complaint also challenges the part of the law that would require the state Agency for Health Care Administration to inspect at least 50 percent of abortion clinic patient records each year.
The Republican-dominated Legislature approved the law largely along party lines in March.
At the time, the bill's sponsor, State Rep. Colleen Burton, R-Lakeland, said lawmakers had taken steps to try to make sure the measure would meet legal tests.
"Our intent is to put forward a piece of legislation that is constitutionally sound," Burton said, according to NSF.
The lawsuit also comes as the Florida Supreme Court considers a challenge to a 2015 law that would require women to wait 24 hours before having an abortion.
Governor Scott has had, at best, a rocky history with reproductive rights advocates. Since becoming governor in 2011, he has signed numerous anti-choice bills. These include one calling to tighten the already restrictive parental involvement laws on teen abortions, and another that would force a woman to view her ultrasound before the abortion.
Also under Scott, Florida became the 11th state to investigate Planned Parenthood for allegedly selling fetal tissue, allegations that stemmed from heavily doctored undercover "sting" videos. The claims turned out bogus and the investigation fruitless.
This article appears in Jun 2-8, 2016.