By Robert Sulzer

July 12, 2013

For years, the Republican Party has been waging its WAR ON WOMEN—-which includes pushing draconian laws restricting women’s reproductive rights, including contraception and safe-legal abortion services. The GOP campaign against women also includes legislation against equal pay in the workplace, legislative efforts to fight the Violence Against Women Act, and policies that eliminate or reduce public funding for women’s health organizations, such as Planned Parenthood.

This year, many states that have both GOP governors and a GOP-controlled state legislature have passed severe laws against women’s reproductive rights, including the forced closing of health clinics that provide abortion services, mandated ultrasounds for women seeking abortions, and personhood laws stating that embryos and fetuses have legal rights from conception until birth.

In the last few months, the Republican WAR ON WOMEN has dramatically intensified in GOP controlled states—especially Texas (we all know about Wendy Davis’ 13-hour filibuster against Gov. Rick Perry’s draconian abortion law), North Carolina (where these provisions were added to an Anti-Sharia Law at the last minute without debate) and Ohio (where draconian provisions were added to the state budget law where they cannot be overturned by popular vote of the electorate). Let’s not forget Virginia where their Board of Health recently passed rules requiring abortion clinics to meet stricter hospital-style standards. These rules will force many clinics to close as these rules require major changes to the structure of these facilities.

On women’s issues, while the Democrats are focused on extending the positive progress, the GOP controlled by its far right, is working hard to move rapidly far into the past.

As residents of Florida, with our ultra-right wing GOP Gov. Rick Scott and a heavily Republican controlled state legislature—we must be especially vigilant and on guard for anti-women bills that could arise from both houses of our legislature in.