Representative Eskamani’s Draft Debate Remarks in Opposition to SB404
By: Anna V. Eskamani
Tags: Abortion, Reproductive Rights, Florida, Reproductive Health, Womens Health

Members — many of you know might know that I worked at Planned Parenthood before I ran for office and served alongside you in the Florida House.

My Planned Parenthood story, like that of many, began as a patient. I grew up in Orlando, went to Orange County Public Schools and lost my Mom to cancer when I was 13 years old. My period hadn’t even started yet, let alone conversations with my Mom about dating, healthy relationships, or healthy decision making.

I would find myself in a dark cold auditorium at age 16 — in my high school — learning that sex before marriage was committing a sin and was provided with myths about contraception and STI transmissions.

I left that space feeling angry, frustrated, and shamed. I wasn’t sexually active yet, but I knew one day I would be, and I knew at that moment I wasn’t ready to become a parent either.

Lucky for me, I found a local Planned Parenthood health center and when I was 18 with a car and with a more flexible class schedule I made my way into a health center, met with incredible staff who treated me with love and respect, and began a method of contraception that was right for me. I started volunteering at Planned Parenthood as a health center escort, walking patients into the health center when there were protesters outside, and would work there for about seven years rising to become a Senior Director.

In my years at Planned Parenthood I have had the honor of working alongside some the most compassionate people you will meet and that includes the parents of young people who came to gain access to contraception, and yes — an abortion. I mentioned yesterday that I became a notary years ago to help verify documentation and identities of parents and guardians.

With all of that said, I think it’s important to lay out some facts on abortion and abortion for young people.

1. Abortion access is highly regulated in the State of Florida — there are very specific rules to follow in Florida law — including rules around parental notification — required licensing and AHCA has the power to make announced inspections. Florida us an ultrasound requirement, documentation that must be presented to them created by the State of Florida, and we also have a viability ban.

2. Abortion access — when legally accessible — is incredibly safe. Abortions in the United States are safe and have few complications, according to a landmark new study by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

3. Researchers found that about 90 percent of all abortions happen in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. And complications for all abortions are “rare,” the report says. But the report did find that state laws and regulations can interfere with safe abortions.

4. Only one percent of women have an abortion following 20 weeks, and it’s often due to rare and tragic circumstances. Florida has a viability ban — and there are no elective third trimester abortion services happening in Florida. Period.

5. Based on this landmark research, it is found that “Abortion is safer when it’s performed earlier in gestation,” Lawrence says. “And so delaying and making people wait and go through hoops of unnecessary, extra procedures does not improve the safety. And actually by having them delay can actually worsen the safety.”

6. Now that might not deter you if you are morally opposed to abortion access for others, but maybe this next fact will: Abortion rates are on the decline, The U.S. abortion rate dropped to 13.5 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 in 2017, the lowest rate recorded since abortion was legalized in 1973 and an 8% decline from 2014, according to a new Guttmacher report. Birthrates declined in almost all states during this period, indicating that fewer people became pregnant, not that more individuals chose or were made to give birth rather than have an abortion — this emphasizes the importance of contraception in reducing the rate of abortion.

7. Keep in mind that in Florida and in states across the country, States largely affirm young people’s ability to consent to other reproductive health services, such as contraceptive services, c-sections, prenatal care, and testing and treatment for STIs. The notable exception is abortion care, a fact that undermines arguments for the necessity of forced parental involvement.

8. The leading health care professional organizations — the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and others — oppose these types of bills as they are dangerous to minors, particularly at-risk youth.

9. As of December 2016, minors account for 4% of abortion procedures — 2/3 minors already involve their parents, those who don’t (30%) fear physical harm or abuse if they involve a parent.

Let’s hear some of those stories now:

In 2008, Florida Judge Raul Palomino Jr. urged a 17-year-old to think of how distressed her Catholic parents would be if they discovered her secret abortion. In a 2006 Florida case, a girl testified she wasn’t financially or emotionally equipped to raise a child — a claim, the judge ruled, that proved she wasn’t mature enough to choose abortion. Three judges denied petitions because becoming pregnant by accident indicated a young woman was too immature to choose abortion.

In a previous paper, the researchers interviewed 20 adolescents who had undergone judicial bypass and reported that they found it “intimidating” and “scary” and encountered judges and guardians-ad-litem who preached to them and shamed them. This process can be embarrassing, and research also shows humiliation makes people lose trust in others and that stigma against abortion causes psychological distress in women who have them.

In some ways these girls were lucky to have made it to court at all. They had to get out of school, and in some cases to another town, for the hearing (and the procedure itself). They had to keep the whole process a secret

PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT HURTS YOUNG PEOPLE

Parental involvement mandates are a dangerous erosion of reproductive rights and purposefully target populations who may be least equipped to fight back. Mandates deny young people’s right to bodily autonomy, may force a young person to face an abusive parent, and ignore relationships with trusted adults other than parents or legal guardians. These laws disproportionately impact young people of color, who are more likely to experience unintended pregnancy, as well as immigrants, who may lack government-issued identification or fear immigration enforcement against themselves or their family.

To improve access to abortion care for young people in Florida, courts must provide clear, consistent, accurate, and unbiased information about the judicial waiver process.

If/When/Now Report — examined court preparedness in Florida as it pertains to providing information by phone concerning young people’s abortion access; researchers found that of Florida’s 67 counties, 11 (16%) were classified as prepared or knowledgeable about the process. Four counties count not even be reached, with over 30 counties noted as unprepared.

TO CLOSE

We have been down this path before — — We have been down this path before. In 1988, the legislature passed a parental consent statute that was struck down as unconstitutional. Recognizing the robust privacy interest guaranteed by the Florida Constitution, the Florida Supreme Court struck down the parental consent requirement. In re T.W., 551 So. 2d 1186 1195 (Fla. 1989). The legislature should not be wasting taxpayer dollars attempting to pass bills that have already been struck down as unconstitutional.

Right now, in Florida if a minor wants to become a parent, they need no parental notification or consent — but if they choose to end their pregnancy, they do. It makes no sense that we trust a minor to be mature enough to become a parent, but we don’t trust them to say they are not ready to become a parent.

Senate Bill 404 is not about parental knowledge or advice or conversations or guidance — it is about politicians creating a system where minors will be forced to have children against their will.

I hope one day I will raise my mic up in this chamber to support prevention programs — not in opposition to politically motivated restrictions designed to ultimately ban abortion statewide. Thank you Members, and Speaker.

ADDITIONAL LINKS

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/03/16/593447727/landmark-report-concludes-abortion-is-safe

https://www.guttmacher.org/news-release/2019/us-abortion-rate-continues-decline-reaching-historic-low-2017