(corrects in fourth paragraph. Vienna: Florida law was unconstitutional)
Miami, February 22 Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody asked the court on Wednesday to reapply a law that prohibits allocating state funds to institutions that perform abortions like those of the Planned Parenthood organization. .
Moody’s asked the court to overturn an order from a district court in Florida’s capital Tallahassee that blocked enforcement of HB 1411, approved in 2016 by the state’s Congress to cut off the flow of public funds to said clinics.
The prosecutor argued that, given the 2022 decision by the United States Supreme Court to reverse a decision that constitutionally guaranteed the right to abortion in the country (Roe v. Wade), the measure precaution against HB 1411 by the Tallahassee court was no longer valid.
The court held that in light of Roe v. Wade, the Florida law was unconstitutional because it indirectly prohibited abortions.
“We ask the court to overturn the injunction and allow the will of our state legislature and the people who elected them to take effect,” Moody said in a statement.
Florida is one of the GOP-dominated states that has toughened its anti-abortion laws in accordance with the ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade from 1973.
As of July 1, 2022, the time limit to have a legal abortion in Florida is 15 weeks (previously 24 weeks) and there are a series of requirements for doing so and stiff penalties for doctors and clinics that break the rules.
Pregnancies resulting from rape or incestuous relationships are not considered exceptions.
ABORTIONS INCREASE IN 2022 DESPITE RESTRICTIONS
Despite these restrictions, which can be made even more important if the plans of ultra-conservative sectors that have already received support from DeSantis prosper, in 2022 legal abortions have increased in Florida, according to figures from the official body in charge. .
The total number of legal abortions in Florida in 2022 was 82,199, down from 79,800 in 2021, and Miami-Dade was the county with the most abortions last year, with more than 15,500.
The increase was primarily due to the fact that more than 6,700 women from out of state, including other points in the United States or overseas, had abortions in Florida, a higher number than 38% to that of 2021.
“The reversal of the Roe v. Wade decision and the introduction of Florida’s 15-week abortion ban had a devastating impact not only in Florida, but in other states,” said Clara Trullenque. , head of communications at Planned, to EFE. North Florida.
In a statement on Florida’s official abortion count for 2022, Trullenque noted that since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, “the number of out-of-state patients coming to our Florida health centers for abortions has quadrupled.”
Patients arriving in Florida come primarily from states such as Georgia, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas, where restrictions are greater.
“These restrictions are not about what is best for women, but are part of the anti-abortion agenda, the aim of which is to make abortion illegal or prevent women from having abortions. If more restrictions or bans are put in place, they have a devastating impact on people’s lives,” said Trullenque.
In Florida, there are 55 licensed abortion providers, and Planned Parenthood represents 15. EFE
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