Planned Parenthood To Launch Campaign Against Florida Abortion Bill That’s Similar To Texas Law

Planned Parenthood will launch a television and digital advertisement campaign Friday to condemn a Florida abortion restriction bill, which includes restrictions similar to a Texas law that contributed to the closure of around 40 abortion providers.

The ad campaign will urge Florida Gov. Rick Scott to veto the bill, which, if enacted, would prevent public money from being allocated to Planned Parenthood affiliates, according to Politico. Under the bill, local and county health departments would not be allowed to fund services such as cancer screenings and birth control at the Planned Parenthood affiliates or abortion providers.

The bill, approved Wednesday in the state Senate, would require abortion clinics either to have a patient-transfer agreement with a local hospital or admitting privileges there for the doctors who are performing abortions. Scott would have until March 26 to respond to the bill. He has not said publicly whether he supports it.

“Florida would, in one bill, do the damage it took Texas years to inflict on women," said Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. "This bill would strip many women of their access to basic healthcare, such as cancer screenings, birth control and abortion. As a healthcare provider, Planned Parenthood knows how laws like this leave women devastated. Women in Texas have been forced to drive hundreds of miles to access abortion, or self-induce abortion without medical supervision. Now Florida is poised to follow Texas’ shameless example. At Planned Parenthood, our doors are open. We are here for our patients and will fight this with everything we’ve got.”

The ad campaign will cost the women's health organization a six-figure sum, according to Politico.

"We're making sure Rick Scott hears directly from the women who stand to lose their care if he signs this bill," Richards said in a statement. "What's happening in Florida is part of an unprecedented attack on women's access to basic health care in this country."