How Florida uses a little-known law to punish abortion clinics

[onthedarkside]

 

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida regulators over the last year punished more than a dozen abortion providers for violating a nearly decade-old law that requires pregnant patients wait 24 hours before getting the procedure.

 

Florida legislators approved the law in 2015, but it remained in limbo after the American Civil Liberties Union challenged it.

 

After a judge upheld the law in April, Florida’s abortion regulator, the Agency for Health Care Administration, almost immediately began issuing fines.

 

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/26/florida-abortion-law-ban-00088815

 

[riclag]

From the article:

Republicans hold supermajorities in the state House and Senate, so Democrats have no power to even slow the GOP from approving the measure. The new proposal, and “24 hour law,” are strong indicators that some GOP-led states will continue to crack down on abortions in the wake of last year’s Supreme Court decision overturning Roe.

 

Elections have consequences.

The voters by majority elected these politicians in Fla to represent them, I wish the opposition media would respect the consequences of their decisions when enforcing law.imop

Edited March 26, 2023 by riclag

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1 hour ago, riclag said:

From the article:

Republicans hold supermajorities in the state House and Senate, so Democrats have no power to even slow the GOP from approving the measure. The new proposal, and “24 hour law,” are strong indicators that some GOP-led states will continue to crack down on abortions in the wake of last year’s Supreme Court decision overturning Roe.

 

Elections have consequences.

The voters by majority elected these politicians in Fla to represent them, I wish the opposition media would respect the consequences of their decisions when enforcing law.imop

We also know that the Republicans in Florida don't respect referendums, which most truly reflect the will of the people. For instance they gutted a referendum that passed giving felons the right to vote. And in response to that, they made it much harder for referendums to make to succeed in being put up for a vote:

 

"The Republican-controlled Legislature — at the urging of groups such as the Florida Chamber of Commerce — have pushed to cut down on citizen initiatives after voters approved measures creating a $15 minimum wage, legalizing medical marijuana and restoring voting rights for many people with felony convictions.

Some of the changes include raising the threshold needed to pass an amendment to 60 percent. But more recent changes affecting how voter signatures are collected, how long the signatures remain valid, when the Supreme Court reviews the ballot language have also made it harder to make the ballot." 

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/florida-playbook/2022/08/04/the-outlook-for-an-abortion-rights-amendment-in-florida-00049765

 

They've made it so difficult that the only issues that have a chance of being put on the ballot are those are sponsored by the legislature. A group spent 116 million dollars trying to get a referendum on the ballot and failed to make it in time.