Broward County Commission Regular Meeting
Director's Name: Nan H. Rich
Department: County Commission
Information
Requested Action
title
MOTION TO ADOPT Resolution No. 2021-519, the title of which is as follows: (Commissioner Rich)
A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA, URGING THE FLORIDA LEGISLATURE TO TAKE ACTION SAFEGUARDING THE ACCESSIBILITY, AFFORDABILITY, AND SAFETY OF REPRODUCTIVE HEALTHCARE AND THE FUNDAMENTAL CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO ABORTION; OPPOSING THE LATEST EFFORTS OF SEVERAL U.S. STATES TO SEVERELY LIMIT OR BAN ABORTION; CONDEMNING CERTAIN DECEPTIVE PRACTICES OF "CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTERS"; DIRECTING THE COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR TO PROVIDE A COPY OF THIS RESOLUTION TO THE OFFICIALS DESIGNATED HEREIN; AND PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
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Why Action is Necessary
Formal Board approval is necessary for the adoption of a Resolution.
What Action Accomplishes
Enables the adoption of the above Resolution.
Is this Action Goal Related
No
Previous Action Taken
Summary Explanation/Background
In the 1973 landmark decision, Roe v. Wade, the United States Supreme Court decided that the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides a fundamental "right to privacy" protecting a pregnant person's liberty to choose whether to have an abortion or not. The constitutional right to abortion has been affirmed in subsequent Supreme Court cases, including Planned Parenthood v. Casey in 1992, and Whole Women's Health v. Hellerstedt in 2016.
The legalization of abortion in the United States led to safer practices and drastically reduced the incidence of maternal deaths and hospitalizations related to abortion. However, the Guttmacher Institute has observed that in 2021 states have enacted more than 100 abortion restrictions so far. This is the largest number of abortion restrictions ever enacted in a single year. The most restrictive anti-abortion law to date was...
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