Jacksonville-area women’s groups join to push for reproductive health care access

Oct. 18--When more than 80 women -- and a few men -- gathered Tuesday night in order to learn how to better advocate for reproductive health care and abortion access, they were handed a postcard, a pen and an actionable item.

The Women's March Florida Jacksonville Chapter and the Jacksonville Area National Organization for Women co-hosted Laura Goodhue, vice president of public policy with Planned Parenthood of South, East and North Florida at the IBEW Local 177 hall Tuesday night. Goodhue offered an overview of current access to reproductive health services, as well as policy issues at the state and federal level.

One of the most pressing issues Planned Parenthood is keeping its eye on in Florida for the 2018 session, Goodhue said, is Senate Bill 444, filed by Sen. Aaron Bean, who represents Nassau County and part of Duval County. Bean's bill, "Pregnancy Support Services," would require the Department of Health to "contract with a not-for-profit statewide alliance of organizations to provide pregnancy support services through subcontractors."

However, those subcontractors are to "exclusively promote and support childbirth," according to the bill's text. It's the second year Bean has filed such a bill, which in the past has earned him praise from conservative groups, like Florida Family Action. It was the first of several actionable items discussed throughout the night.

"We mount so much public pressure that they don't want to move that bill forward because they know we're going to swarm their committee, they know we're going to make it difficult," Goodhue said.

And so, with a photo of Bean next to his Duval County office's address, Goodhue urged Tuesday night's attendees to write to Bean about their opposition to the bill.

She said women should be given information about all of their safe and legal options. Additionally, she said this bill does not require the centers to use licensed medical professionals, and nor are they bound by federal HIPPA law, so patients are often harassed after their visits.

Judy Sheklin, president of the area NOW, said the goal of the event is to teach women how to effectively advocate for their reproductive rights. For many women, she said, Planned Parenthood is their only way to access crucial medical care, including pap smears, breast exams and contraception.

Bonnie Hendrix and Jennifer Wolfe, co-captains of the Women's March in Jacksonville, said they wanted to educate their members so that they can raise their voices.

"It's our job as women to represent outselves," Wolfe said.

Goodhue said that even 45 years since Roe v. Wade, "year after year," politicians have "definitely tried everything in the toolkit" to overturn access to abortion. Florida currently has a mandatory delay before a woman can get an abortion, and there have been attempts to defund preventative services obtained through Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood has 22 health centers across Florida, including one in Jacksonville. Located off of Philips Highway, the clinic served more than 4,400 patients locally with cancer screenings, STD testing, abortion care and contraceptives, Goodhue said.

Unlike other states where abortion restrictions have been more swift, like Texas, Florida has a constitutional right to privacy. But, with the Constitutional Revision Commission -- which only takes place every 20 years -- underway, Goodhue said there's a lot of interest by opponents in striking the right to privacy.

"We want to make sure that we don't go backwards, and want to make sure that women still have access to reproductive health care," she said.

"WE'RE IN THEIR FACES"

Immediately after President Donald Trump's inauguration, Goodhue said hundreds of thousands of women "marched on his lawn saying, 'We don't want this,'" in regards to limitations of reproductive health.

Dozens of local women traveled to Washington, D.C., for the Women's March the day after Trump's inauguration, and as many as 3,000 marched through downtown Jacksonville in solidarity. Since the election, Goodhue said Planned Parenthood has seen its supporters grown, and there are more events, town halls and activism taking place.

Together, the three groups -- NOW, the Women's March and Planned Parenthood -- are among the most prominent advocating for women's issues and reproductive health.

Nearly 600,000 Floridians have signed on as supporters of Planned Parenthood by receiving newsletters and updates -- including 11,500 in Jacksonville.

The strength of women was recurring throughout the night.

"We're in their faces," Goodhue said of defeating anti-reproductive health bills in Florida this year. "We're loud. We're there all the time."

Sheklin, who has been an activist for women's issues since the 1970s, said Trump's election has been of "grave concern" for many women.

"It has mobilized women who in the past have not felt the need to be active," she said. "... Younger women may have thought the work was done."

Hendrix said she's "proud" of what she's seeing.

"I think women are energized," she said. "I think they're joining hands to push back. I feel pride in that."

Wolfe said access to reproductive health care creates social, racial and economic justice, and that undermining this care is truly about undermining the economic viability of women.

"This is an injustice," she said. "We are here to right that wrong."

This renewed activism is the reason the Affordable Care Act has not been repealed by Congress, Goodhue said, and that the efforts to defund Planned Parenthood by preventing it from receiving Medicaid funding have failed.

"It's because of that anger and frustration with the administration and members of Congress who want to roll back the progress we've made that we've seen these efforts stall," she said.

But, the Trump administration has been successful in some of its efforts on this front. One of Trump's first actions in office was to reinstate the global gag rule, which bans federal money from going to health organizations overseas that provide abortion or even provide information about abortion.

Earlier this month, the Trump administration made it easier for employers with 'religious objections' to opt out of the birth control coverage rule in the Affordable Care Act.

Tessa Duvall: (904) 359-4697

___

(c)2017 The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville, Fla.)

Visit The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville, Fla.) at www.jacksonville.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.