We are a group of healthcare providers concerned about ongoing attacks on abortion access in Florida and across the Southeast. Florida lawmakers have ignored not only the will of their constituents but medical evidence, to ban abortion and restrict Floridians’ reproductive freedom. They have inserted themselves into our exam rooms, our hospitals, and our relationships with our patients. They have put our patients’ lives in danger. 

Lawmakers have set a dangerous precedent of interference in reproductive health care. That is why we — physicians, nurses, and other clinicians— are proud to support Floridians Protecting Freedom, the campaign to protect Floridians’ access to abortion and amend our state’s constitution. The constitutional amendment, “Limiting Government Interference in Abortion,” is a critical initiative that would firmly establish protections against politicians interfering in Floridians’ personal medical decisions. By supporting this amendment, healthcare providers are defending our patients’ freedom to control their own bodies and our own ability to provide them with the care that they seek.  

As medical providers, we have sworn an oath to do no harm and to provide effective, evidence-based, treatment to our patients. But since Florida’s ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy took effect in July 2022, medical providers across the state have been forced to make decisions counter to that oath. We must choose between following an unyielding law and denying our patients essential medical care, or providing that care while risking loss of our licenses and even facing criminal charges. 

We have also witnessed first-hand the psychological, physical, and emotional toll on patients. That toll will only worsen if the Florida Supreme Court upholds the 15-week ban, allowing a new ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy to take effect as well. In a state where maternal morbidity and mortality, especially for Black women, is already high, abortion bans put pregnant people at further risk of lifelong complications and even death. 

Any infringement on access directly impacts the health and well-being of Floridians. That impact is heightened for Black and Latino people, LGBTQ+ people, young people, and people with low incomes, all of whom face discrimination and barriers to accessing health care. Countless studies show that when people are denied an abortion, they are more likely to be caught in cycles of poverty with their children; remain in abusive relationships; experience mental health conditions like depression and anxiety; and have poorer lifetime health outcomes. 

Abortion is essential reproductive health care. 

To all healthcare providers who believe in their patient’s ability to control their bodies, and to all Floridians who want to keep the government out of their healthcare decisions: We urge you to support our mission and sign the petition to put abortion on the ballot in 2024.

Together, we can ensure that Floridians have the freedom and opportunities to control our lives at the most basic level: our bodies, our families, and our life’s path – and that includes the ability to have an abortion.

In solidarity,