Miami Beach Protects Abortion Rights & Reproductive Care

(Miami Beach, FL) Jul 17, 2019 -

The City of Miami Beach has historically been at the forefront of advancing, promoting, and protecting the rights of individuals, including in the arena of reproductive rights.  Until 2011, Floridians had greater access to comprehensive reproductive services and safe, legal abortions than in most other southern states.

Today, the Mayor and City Commission unanimously passed a resolution that opposes the highly restrictive anti-abortion legislation passed recently in several U.S. states.  Miami Beach encourages other municipalities to do the same, urging our Florida Legislature to oppose any efforts that might restrict the right to a safe and legal abortion.

The resolution also points to the critically important privacy clause in Florida’s Constitution as providing greater privacy rights than guaranteed under the U.S Constitution.

“Abortion should continue to remain a safe and legal medical procedure and we need Florida’s policy makers to do everything in their power to safeguard our rights,” expressed Commissioner John Elizabeth Alemán. “We must defend the landmark ruling of Roe v. Wade, which protects a woman’s right to choose whether or not to have an abortion.”

Nationally we’re seeing a rise in state abortion restrictions, with one third of such restrictions having been enacted over the past seven years alone.

Access to abortion in Florida correlates to many other women’s health and reproductive rights issues. The hope is that Florida legislators do not narrow abortion rights but make a commitment to protecting reproductive freedom.