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Abortion access advocates aren't ready to give up

A group of mostly women rally in support of abortion access.
Regan McCarthy
/
WFSU news
A group of mostly women rally in support of abortion access.

As the Florida senate prepares to take up a six-week abortion ban activists are launching a long shot effort to stop the bill.

The day before the ban was scheduled for a floor hearing a small crowd of mostly women gathered on the steps of Florida’s historic Capitol to continue the fight for access to abortion.

“It’s not done until it’s done and while there is a super majority, the Senate leader has a lot of power and can make the decision to not prioritize further limiting our ability to have abortions," said Stephanie Pineiro, executive director at Florida Access Network.

Senate President Kathleen Passidomo told reporters before the session started she thinks an abortion ban should include exemptions for rape, incest or human trafficking. It’s a sticking point she brought up about the 15-week abortion ban that lawmakers passed last year. The six-week ban under consideration this year includes exemptions for rape and incest but only up until the 15-week mark.

“Exemptions for abortion are quite frankly pointless," Pineiro said.

Pinerio said the exemptions force pregnant people in these cases to report and expose their trauma when they might not feel ready or safe to do so.

Pinerio said her organization will continue to be there to help people who need access to abortion care no matter what happens in the Senate chamber.

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Regan McCarthy is the Assistant News Director for WFSU Public Media. Before coming to Tallahassee, Regan graduated with honors from Indiana University’s Ernie Pyle School of Journalism. She worked for several years for NPR member station WFIU in Bloomington, Ind., where she covered local and state government and produced feature and community stories.

Phone: (850) 645-6090 | rmccarthy@fsu.edu

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