Yesterday, Gov. Rick Scott signed the state’s $70 billion while vetoing $142.7 million line-items. While some health care items were eliminated, one budget line that funds a breast and cervical cancer detection program survived the round of cuts.
A bill that critics say will weaken Florida’s health department was presented to Gov. Rick Scott today.
Catholic Bishops, one of the biggest opponents of the federal government’s decision to require health insurance companies to cover birth control as a preventive service, released a proclamation this week “calling for every priest, parish and layperson to participate in ‘great national campaign’ to defend religious liberty, which they said is ‘under attack, both at home and abroad,’” The New York Times reports.
A new anti-abortion group called Citizens for Protecting Taxpayers and Parental Rights has launched a campaign called “Yes on 6,” urging Floridians to vote for Amendment 6 this November.
The South Florida Sun Sentinel reports today that the Florida Family Policy Council, a Florida-based anti-gay, anti-abortion group, has begun ramping up its effort to get Christians to the polls for the upcoming presidential election, hoping a large Christian voter turnout could help flip Florida away from President Obama.
Kaiser Health News reported this past Friday that part of President Obama’s strategy to maintain his lead in the polls with women voters is to tout the health care reform law, which will eventually close gender disparities in health care coverage.
Late last Friday, Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill championed by women’s health advocates that establishes humane and uniform rules for the treatment of pregnant women who are incarcerated in any prison, jail or detention center in Florida.
Mississippi’s state Legislature this week passed a bill that would place prohibitive restrictions on abortion providers in the state, in an effort to curb access to legal abortions. The Florida Legislature attempted to pass a similar bill this year that would crack down on providers, but the measure was blocked by a group of state senators before it could make it to the floor.
This year’s state budget will leave the Florida Legislature and be en route to the governor’s desk this week.
This morning, Gov. Rick Scott was presented with a bill that has been championed by women’s health advocates that protects the health and reproductive rights of women who are incarcerated in Florida.
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