Ensuring all women have access to essential healthcare is vital not just to women’s health, but to keeping our entire country healthy and thriving. Yet, earlier this month, the Florida State Legislature passed Senate bill 1722 and House bill 1411, which would defund Planned Parenthood and put even more obstacles in front of women who need access to affordable, safe healthcare.

It’s outrageous that in 2016, we are still seeing women’s access to basic and essential healthcare being threatened by divisive, extremist political agendas. Instead of our state’s leaders working together to find solutions to climate change or to improve our public education system, they are derailed by partisan, ideological fights that have the net effect of rolling back women’s rights. Access to safe and essential healthcare for women is not up for debate, it is a right. I call on Governor Rick Scott to veto this bill. Our state’s leaders ought to be fighting for the people, not against them. Florida is better than this.

–Annette Taddeo