Those who end their own pregnancy should not be criminalized for it
Orlando, FL: This week Representative Anna V. Eskamani teamed up with Senator Lauren Book to file legislation that would forbid Florida from criminalizing those who end their own pregnancy via self-managed abortion.
Self-managed abortion is the term commonly used to describe when a person chooses to induce their own abortion outside a medical setting. Anyone who decides to end a pregnancy should be able to choose to self-manage an abortion at home or somewhere they feel safe — with the control in their hands, surrounded by the people they love, and with the support they want.
Historical record suggests that people have self-managed abortions for millennia and continue to do so to this day, with a rate that has increased due to politically motivated bans on abortion. But with the increase of self-managed abortion comes the increased risk of criminalization. Recently, Governor Ron DeSantis dismissed the notion that abortion seekers in Florida would be criminalized for ending their own pregnancy — and yet, in current Florida law a woman would risk facing criminal charges if she ends her own pregnancy.
HB111/SB34 provides clarity by adding a blanket prohibition on criminalizing individuals who end their own pregnancies.
“Governor Ron DeSantis and GOP allies like to say that abortion bans don’t lead to the criminalization of women and abortion seekers — if that is true, then passing this bill should be easy and bipartisan,” said Representative Anna V. Eskamani. “But I suspect such comments are not sincere, and that anti-abortion extremists are more than happy to arrest and incarcerate those who practice self-managed abortion care. If they are sincere, then we must pass this bill to guarantee the safety of our fellow Floridians.”
The 2024 Legislative Session is scheduled to begin in January.
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