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Hi, John. If we haven't already met, let me take a second to introduce myself. My name is Dr. Cecilia Grande, and I've been working as an OB-GYN in Florida for over 25 years.
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I'm working with the Florida Women's Freedom Coalition to get abortion rights on the ballot and approved across our state this year. If we get our measure on the ballot, we will protect women without insurance, women who are underinsured and women who have been raped. It will protect my patients and their families.
After a lot of hard work and knocking on doors, this movement has helped collect more than enough valid petitions from all over Florida: a testament to the immense support this issue has right in our backyards.
But just as we hit this campaign milestone, extremist politicians fired back with a new abortion ban that prevents all abortions. And health care providers like myself will also be charged with a third-degree felony if we even attempted to provide one.
The only exception in this horrific proposal is for minors in critical conditions ... completely dismissing the trauma a young body can go through to give birth, even if it isn't life-threatening – like pelvic break or obstetric fistula.
Let me be clear: This bill will cost lives. The lives of my patients, the lives of so many lower-income and uninsured women. As a woman, and as a doctor who pours all my time into helping my patients plan their families, the stakes of this issue couldn't be higher.
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