HomeMy WebLinkAboutR-2021-178 Women's Rights to Reproductive HealthcareRESOLUTION NO.2021-178
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF DANIA
BEACH, FLORIDA, URGING THE FLORIDA LEGISLATURE TO TAKE
ACTION SAFEGUARDING THE ACCESSIBILITY, AFFORDABILITY AND
SAFETY OF REPRODUCTIVE HEALTHCARE AND THE FUNDAMENTAL
CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO ABORTION; OPPOSING THE LATEST
EFFORTS OF SEVERAL STATES TO SEVERELY LIMIT OR BAN
ABORTION; CONDEMNING CERTAIN DECEPTIVE PRACTICES OF
"CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTERS"; DIRECTING THE CITY CLERK TO
PROVIDE A COPY OF THIS RESOLUTION TO THE OFFICIALS
DESIGNATED IN THIS RESOLUTION; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICTS;
FURTHER, PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, in the 1973 landmark decision, Roe v. Wade, 410 US 113 (1971), the United
States Supreme Court decided that the Due Process Clause of the 14t' Amendment to the US
Constitution provides a fundamental "right to privacy" protecting a pregnant person's liberty to
choose whether to have an abortion or not; and the constitutional right to abortion has been
affirmed in subsequent Supreme Court cases, including Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 US 833
(1992) and Whole Women's Health v. Hellerstedt, 579 US 582 (2016); and
WHEREAS, the legalization of abortion in the United States led to safer practices and
drastically reduced the incidence of maternal deaths and hospitalizations related to abortion; and
WHEREAS, half of all pregnancies in the United States each year are unintended, and
four in ten unintended pregnancies are ended by safe and legal abortions as published in a 2014
article in the American Journal of Public Health; and
WHEREAS, the states that have the strictest laws against safe and legal abortion are in the
states in which women suffer from lower levels of education and higher levels of poverty, as well
as from a lower ratio of female -male earnings; they also have a lower percentage of women in the
legislature and fewer mandates requiring insurance providers to cover minimum hospital stays
after childbirth as researched by Jean Reith Schroeder in a 2000 article in the Cornell University
Press: and
WHEREAS, women who live in states with policies that support women's access to
healthcare have higher earnings and are more integrated into the workforce than women in other
states, and access to reproductive healthcare has been linked to reduced unemployment gaps
between jobs; and
WHEREAS, the impact of abortion restrictions is predominantly felt by those who already
experience barriers to healthcare, including young people, people of color and those with
disabilities, people with low incomes, immigrants of any status, and people who live in rural areas;
and every person, regardless of race, gender identity, income level, and immigration status, should
have access to the full range of reproductive healthcare, starting before they ever become pregnant
and including contraception, abortion, and prenatal and postpartum care; and
WHEREAS, according to a review published in Review in Obstetrics and Gynecology in
2009, each year, about five (5) million women worldwide are hospitalized for complications
arising from unsafe, illegal abortions; and
WHEREAS, according to leading public health organizations such as the American
College of Obstetricians and gynecologists, the American Medical Association, American
Academy of Family Physicians, and the American Osteopathic Association, blocking women's
access to legal abortion "jeopardize(s) women's health"; and
WHEREAS, and abortion is one of the safest medical procedures in the United States and
experts at the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine published a study in
2018 confirming that scientific evidence consistently indicates that legal abortions in the United
States, including those performed in the second trimester, are extremely safe but medically
unnecessary regulations of abortion can diminish the quality of abortion care by contributing to
the decline of facilities that provide abortion, needlessly delaying abortion, and making it
unnecessarily difficult to access abortion care; and
WHEREAS, a hostile climate for freedom to reproductive healthcare has been created in
ten (10) states: Missouri, Kentucky, Ohio, Utah, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama,
Georgia and Texas, all have passed legislation restricting the right to an abortion at various stages
of pregnancy and seven (7) states have banned abortion at six to eight (6-8) weeks, which is the
equivalent of a missed menstrual cycle; and
WHEREAS, the law enacted in Texas on May 19, 2021, is the most restrictive anti-
abortion laws to date as it threatens an individual's fundamental right to privacy and the right to
safe and legal access to abortion; and
WHEREAS, the City Commission of the City of Dania Beach condemns all
unconstitutional proposed abortion bans and parental consent bills that may come before the 2022
session of the Florida Legislature; reproductive freedom for all must be protected and expanded in
the State of Florida; and
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WHEREAS, the City Commission believes every person has the constitutional
fundamental right to an abortion and the freedom to access additional reproductive health care
services such as contraception, STD/HIV testing and treatment, other OBGYN services, and
comprehensive sex education for young people; and
WHEREAS, the City Commission condemns the deceptive practices of the "crisis
pregnancy centers" operating in Broward County that pretend to provide comprehensive and
medically accurate services; and
WHEREAS, the Florida standard for privacy extends even further than the federal
standard, as Article I, Section 23 of the Florida Constitution explicitly provides, in part, that "Every
natural person has the right to be let alone and free from governmental intrusion into the person's
private life";
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE
CITY OF DANIA BEACH, FLORIDA:
Section 1. That the foregoing "WHEREAS" clauses are ratified and confirmed as
being true and correct and they are made a specific part of this Resolution.
Section 2. That the City Commission urges the Florida Legislature to safeguard the
accessibility, affordability, and safety of reproductive healthcare and the fundamental
constitutional right to abortion.
Section 3. That the City condemns the deceptive practices of "crisis pregnancy
centers" that pretend to provide comprehensive and medically accurate services.
Section 4. That the City Commission directs the City Clerk to transmit a copy of this
Resolution to the Governor of Florida, the President of the Florida Senate, the speaker of the
Florida House of Representatives, the Broward County Legislative Delegation and the Broward
League of Cities.
Section 5. That this Resolution shall be in full force and take effect immediately upon
its passage and adoption.
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PASSED AND ADOPTED on November 9, 2021.
ATTEST:®
THOMAS SCHNEIDER, CMC
CITY CLERK .15
APPROVED AS T FORM AND CORRECTNESS:
1 rr
THOMAS V. ANYBRO,
CITY A
hilt
TAMARA JAMES
MAYOR
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