Manatee County can’t make its own abortion ban, Florida AG says. Here’s why.
The Manatee Board of County Commissioners will not be allowed to introduce an ordinance that bans abortion clinics, according to Attorney General Ashley Moody’s legal staff.
The Office of the Florida Attorney General responded to the county’s September inquiry into whether approving a ban would be possible. Commissioner James Satcher first proposed the idea in June, citing the recent approval of abortion restrictions in Texas.
There are no active abortion clinics in Manatee County, but Satcher said he still wanted the measure in place to ensure new locations do not open in the future.
“I keep hearing we don’t have any of these facilities. Let’s keep it that way. This is Florida. This is our state,” Satcher said at a previous meeting. “We have the chance to put a couple of lines in the sand and plant a couple of flags and say this is not a community where we’re going to have abortion on demand.”
County Attorney Bill Clague shared the legal opinion with board members Monday afternoon. Charles M. Trippe Jr., Moody’s general counsel, sent a letter saying “the county is not authorized to adopt an ordinance regulating (other than reasonable zoning ordinances) or banning such clinics because such an ordinance would be preempted by Florida law.”
Several conservative commissioners said they looked forward to turning Manatee County into Florida’s first “sanctuary for the unborn,” but they agreed to seek legal advice from Moody to determine whether it would be legal. Moving forward without Moody’s input would have resulted in costly lawsuits, board members predicted.
“I think it’s fair to say that if this board votes in favor of this, that, of course, there would be some lawsuits that come forward. It goes without saying,” Commissioner Vanessa Baugh said during a public meeting in September. “However, I think that’s all the more reason to get a memorandum from our Attorney General.”
Reproductive rights activists declare victory
Moody’s memo is a temporary victory for pro-choice activists who have attended the board’s meeting over the past several months, hoping to prevent commissioners from voting the ban into law.
“Thank you to everyone who took time to send emails to our commissioners,” Women’s Voices of SW Florida, a local reproductive rights group that was created in response to Satcher’s proposal, wrote in a Monday evening Facebook post. “Thank you to everyone who came out to the protests we organized.”
In October, organizers put together a large protest that flooded the streets of downtown Bradenton. Hundreds of activists condemned Manatee County’s attempt to restrict abortions locally, calling it an assault on reproductive rights.
County commissioners who supported the proposed ban pushed back on those arguments. Satcher contested that unborn children have a right to life and likened the ordinance to the same sort of protection the government provides for endangered and abused animals.
“If we have time to save puppies, I think that it would be shameful if we were to say we don’t have time to save babies,” Satcher argued.
One of the nation’s top reproductive health care organizations also joined in celebrating the decision. In a statement provided to the Bradenton Herald, Stephanie Fraim, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, welcomed Moody’s opinion but warned of upcoming hurdles.
“We are thankful for this reprieve. Pregnant people in Florida can now breathe and know that their rights are protected and for now, the law respects precedent,” Fraim said. “But we know that there is the potential for a lot of ugliness on the way and we are gearing up for a fight in our state legislature.”
What happens next in Florida’s abortion fight?
Reached for comment Tuesday afternoon, Satcher said he trusts the Republican-led Florida Legislature to change the law and approve abortion restrictions that resemble his initial proposal.
“I would say I’m hopeful and confident, as well,” he said. “We really have a stand-up governor right now. We’ve also got a great senate president and an incoming speaker of the house, and both of them have promised to do something on this issue.”
State lawmakers have already announced plans to take up legislation regarding the medical procedure to terminate a pregnancy during the 2022 legislative session in Tallahassee.
After the U.S. Supreme Court voted against blocking the Texas abortion law from going into effect before it could be heard by lower courts, state lawmakers said they were encouraged to pass their own legislation regarding the medical procedure to terminate a pregnancy.
The Florida Legislature has considered new abortion laws several times in recent years, and a new “heartbeat bill” that would effectively ban abortion procedures six weeks into pregnancy has already been filed ahead of the 2022 legislative session in Tallahassee.
“I think we’re going to see movement on this and it can’t come soon enough if you ask me,” said Satcher.
