Florida’s six-week abortion ban has come into force, closing the door - for now - on the last abortion access point in the US South.
Anti-abortion campaigners have celebrated the new legislation - which replaces an existing 15-week law - as the gold standard of abortion policy and a major victory in the country’s battle over abortion access.
But pro-choice campaigners say the ban will push an overstretched system to the brink.
They worry the new law in Florida, which had been the last state in the region without a near-total ban, will effectively cut off abortion access for more than 21 million women of reproductive age across nearly a dozen states.
“This essentially creates an abortion desert in the south-east part of our country,” said Michelle Quesada, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of South, East and North Florida. “This will be devastating.”
It’s horrifying, but these are not dictatorships. DeSantis and his legislature were voted in by the people of Florida. DeSantis is not just stomping all over the opinions of Floridians, he represents those who showed up to vote. If we let only the cruel vote and choose our leaders, those leaders will be cruel.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/07/states-felony-conviction-voting-rights
I would never deny that voters are disenfranchised and I would hope that most politically engaged people understand that it factors into these discussions. At the same time, it’s not an explanation for all non-voting. Some of these laws have been around for longer than most of have been alive, and some of these states have been blue. Even setting aside the state-level government, there are local representatives and officers to elect. It all matters and a rising tide for any one factor will lift the other boats. We can all focus on what we are passionate about and join together so our efforts contribute to the whole.
They are voted in off lies and media spins. My mother is a stark supporter of Desantis and over and over again stated that abortion bans were just supposed to be up to the states and Florida wasn’t going to change theirs. That it is just liberal media making it up. There won’t be any wake up calls for them, they will be spun on the next bs that’s thrown up into their lap
Sure, okay. I agree that people are being manipulated by media and that politicians have lied. Now what? Are we going to just sit and hope it corrects itself? Fixing any of the problems our country or the world are facing is going to take a multi-faceted approach across all sorts of diverse groups and ideologies banding together to shut out the unacceptable ones. Part of that approach will be voting out the conservatives where it is possible and encouraging and aiding those that are “softly” disenfranchised via misinformation or inconvenience to vote. Anything else is just giving up, and we cannot do that.