DOBBS ANNIVERSARY: RICK SCOTT’S EXTREME RECORD ATTACKING REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM

TALLAHASSEE — Today marks two years since the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturned almost fifty years of precedent to take away reproductive freedom from millions of patients across America and opened the door for states, like Florida, to institute extreme abortion bans. There has been no greater cheerleader for restricting patients’ access to reproductive health care than Florida’s junior Senator, Rick Scott.

Well before the overturning of Roe v Wade, Senator Rick Scott was attacking access to reproductive health care for Floridians.

While running for Governor in 2011, Rick Scott called for Roe to be overturned.
In 2011, then-Governor Scott signed legislation forcing patients to undergo a medically unnecessary ultrasound before accessing abortion care.
In 2012, then-Governor Scott supported a lawsuit to overturn the Affordable Care Act’s rule requiring insurance plans to cover contraceptive coverage.
In 2015, then-Governor Scott signed legislation instituting a 24-hour waiting period before patients could access abortion care.
In 2016, then-Governor Scott signed TRAP law legislation making it harder for patients to access abortion care.
In 2020, Senator Scott co-sponsored and voted for a national abortion ban.

Since the Dobbs decision, Senator Rick Scott has continued to attack access to reproductive health care.

In 2022, Senator Scott supported a federal abortion ban.
In 2023, Senator Scott expressed his support for Florida’s extreme abortion ban.
In 2024, Senator Scott doubled down on his support for Florida’s extreme abortion ban.
In 2024, Senator Scott voted against the Right to Contraception Act.
In 2024, Senator Scott voted against the bipartisan Right To IVF Act.

In response to Senator Rick Scott’s extreme record on reproductive health care, Scott Watch Communications Director Anders Croy released the following statement:

“As patients across Florida continue to feel the impacts of the Dobbs ruling two years later, they should recognize that Senator Rick Scott has a long record of using the government to interfere in reproductive health care and hold him accountable. Throughout his time as a self-serving politician, Senator Rick Scott has called for banning abortion care, limiting access to contraception, and injecting politicians into the personal medical decisions of patients and their doctors.

“While the Dobbs decision was the end of a long path in the fight against reproductive freedom, the road to get there was paved brick-by-brick through the actions of extreme politicians like Rick Scott whose attacks on patients’ access to abortion care, contraception, and family planning treatments like IVF led us to the reality millions of Floridians are forced to deal with today.”

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Scott Watch is a project of the Florida Communications and Research Hub, managed by Florida Watch and Progress Florida, committed to holding Senator Rick Scott accountable for his failure to put the best interests of the people he was elected to serve before his own political ambitions. By working together, we are building a grassroots movement to protect the freedom of all Floridians to be healthy, prosperous, and safe. You can follow along with Scott Watch on social media on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.