“Today, Charlie Crist, reversed his previously pro-woman, pro-life stance. By vetoing a bill that gives a woman seeking an abortion the option to have an ultrasound, he denies them vital information needed to make the most educated decision possible. Every other medical field is moving toward giving patients more information before a procedure. This veto shows a lack of confidence in women’s ability to process the full range of information that is technologically available. It is not ‘mean-spirited’ to give a woman the most complete information in making an informed decision about something as serious as abortion. If the visual reality of a child developing in her womb makes a woman change her decision to abort, we’re achieving what so many claim to support, which is to put the decision-making power in the hands of women and help make abortions rare. To deny women the full range of information is paternalistic and elitist. This is exactly the kind of double-standard we’re witnessing in the feminist debate right now, where a man like Governor Crist can tell women what is best for them, while insisting that this is freedom.
“Unfortunately Governor Crist’s betrayal goes beyond denying information to women and extends to entangling all Floridians in the act of subsidizing abortions with their tax dollars. By vetoing this legislation, Governor Crist is allowing Floridians’ tax dollars to subsidize insurance plans that pay for abortion as permitted in the new federal health care bill. Governor Crist had the chance to ensure that no tax dollars would pay for plans with abortion as several states have already done. Instead he betrayed the consciences of Floridians and punished women and the unborn.”
CONTACT: Kerry Brown (703) 470-1926 or [email protected]
