Protect your daughter

The Senate bill (SB300) reads: "At the time the woman schedules or arrives for her appointment to obtain the abortion, she must provide a copy of a restraining order, police report, medical record, or other court order or documentation providing evidence that she is obtaining the termination of pregnancy because she is a victim of rape or incest. If the woman is a minor, the physician must report the incident of rape or incest to the central abuse hotline as required by s. 39.201."

In Florida, it is well documented that survivors are often afraid to report sexual violence to the police due to fear of retaliation and the belief that law enforcement would not or could not help. It is estimated that only 21% of sexual assaults are reported to law enforcement. Under the current ban, there are exceptions for rape and incest. Though created with good intentions, this isn't a black-and-white issue. Even for survivors who do report to law enforcement, Florida’s abortion laws do not make clear exactly what information needs to be provided to ensure the abortion is legal. Additionally, the survivor must have the rape verified by three separate physicians in order to obtain an abortion. These reporting requirements place barriers in the way of survivors seeking abortion care in the state.

Florida's abortion laws specify that care for ectopic pregnancies and pregnancy loss is not criminalized. However, while these provisions allow for the removal of a dead fetus or embryo, they generally do not cover miscarriage care. This means that pregnant individuals who are actively miscarrying may be denied care if there is still detectable fetal cardiac activity. 

For example, if a pregnant woman in Florida went to the hospital after experiencing sharp pain and bleeding, she might be informed that her fetus had likely stopped growing weeks prior, as its size did not correspond to the length of her pregnancy, and that it had very faint cardiac activity. Despite the pain and blood loss, she could be denied the regimen of mifepristone and misoprostol commonly prescribed to patients who are miscarrying. This regimen ensures that the pregnancy is safely expelled from the body in a timely manner, reducing the risk of sepsis and infection. Instead, she might have to wait for the miscarriage to progress without medical intervention, increasing her medical risk.

In Florida, where abortion bans do not clarify that miscarriage care is not criminalized – even when there is still detectable cardiac activity – pregnant individuals may not be able to receive care to manage their pregnancy loss unless and until it becomes a medical emergency.

In Florida, abortion bans include exceptions for lethal fetal anomalies, typically limited to those anomalies that would result in the death of the baby at birth or shortly after. These exceptions are often poorly defined and limited in the statutes. Florida does not provide a comprehensive list of conditions that fall under this category, leading to ambiguity in the application of the exception. 

The criteria for these exceptions are generally vague, specifying that any condition expected to result in a very short life expectancy might qualify. However, the narrow limits of this exception are problematic, as they may not cover other common conditions, such as Tay-Sachs disease, which result in death early in childhood. This lack of clarity and comprehensiveness in the statutes poses significant challenges for those seeking abortions under the fetal anomaly exception in Florida.