There have been petitions sent to the Attorney General of Florida in an effort to reinstate a state law that prohibits taxpayer funding for abortion centers.
The attempt being led by the Attorney General of Florida, Ashley Moody, to reinstate a state statute that existed before the Dobbs amendment and prohibited government money from being used to subsidize abortion clinics, including Planned Parenthood, is now underway. The Republican governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, has expressed his approval of this course of action.
An email reply from the governor’s office says that DeSantis “completely supports” Moody’s attempts to defund Planned Parenthood and any taxpayer support of the organization. The message was sent in response to a question on whether or not DeSantis backs Moody’s efforts.
Moody submitted a request on Wednesday asking the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida, Tallahassee Division, to lift an injunction that had been issued against Bill 1411, the state statute that was passed in 2016.
The state statute in question makes it illegal for abortion clinics to get financial support from taxpayers and makes this practice illegal. It was first enacted in 2016, but a federal court put a temporary hold on its implementation. Today, with the recent ruling that the Supreme Court handed down in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which affirmed Mississippi’s 15-week abortion restriction, Moody is optimistic that the injunction will be lifted.
With the Dobbs verdict, conservatives are making a concerted effort to push back against the expansion of abortion rights, and this petition is a part of that campaign. Both Moody and DeSantis are vehement opponents of abortion, and they have made it very apparent that they want to use their positions to restrict the availability of abortion services in the state of Florida.
During the past few years, Florida has emerged as a key battlefield in the ongoing debate over abortion rights. The organization Planned Parenthood, which has a number of clinics in the state, has become a target of conservative politicians in the state because they feel that the group utilizes money from taxpayers to pay for abortions.
Nevertheless, proponents of Planned Parenthood maintain that the organization offers vital healthcare services to low-income women. These services include screenings for cancer, birth control, and testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). They also bring up the fact that under federal law, it is illegal to utilize money from taxpayers to pay for abortions, with the exception of situations involving rape, incest, or situations in which the mother’s life is in danger.
It is expected that additional states will take measures to restrict access to abortion services as the legal war over abortion in the United States continues. This is something that is likely to happen in the near future. Moody’s appeal to reinstate the pre-Dobbs state legislation in Florida is, for the time being, simply one example of the continuous struggle for reproductive rights in the United States.
In 2016, the Florida Legislature defunded Planned Parenthood, but a district court halted the law from taking effect. Now that Roe v. Wade is overturned, we are petitioning the court to vacate the court’s injunction. https://t.co/aotmTqHuyG pic.twitter.com/PVv0TvMszD
— AG Ashley Moody (@AGAshleyMoody) February 22, 2023