Lawmakers Seek to Restore Rights and Freedoms Taken Under Governor DeSantis

Lawmakers Seek to Restore Rights and Freedoms Taken Under Governor DeSantis

Bills Would Protect Health Care, Education Freedoms

TALLAHASSEE, FL — Today lawmakers filed a suite of bills to undo the harm of dangerous laws backed by Governor DeSantis that undermine parental rights and personal freedom in Florida. These proposals come at a critical moment when the Trump administration is doubling down on its attacks on the LGBTQ community and public education, emboldening efforts to erode essential freedoms. Focusing on health care access and education rights—two policy areas weaponized by DeSantis in his cynical culture war for political gain—the bills aim to restore power to Florida families and protect them from political overreach. “Governor DeSantis has taken away our right to seek the best health care for ourselves and our children and instead handed that power to politicians. He has forced out trained educators and replaced them with book-banning extremists,” said Jon Harris Maurer, Equality Florida’s Public Policy Director.

Senator Shevrin Jones and Representative Anna V. Eskamani filed the “Health Care Freedom Act” (Senate Bill 932, House Bill 823), and Senator Tracie Davis and Representative Angie Nixon filed the “Freedom to Learn Act” (Senate Bill 930, House Bill 811) to undo the many harms DeSantis inflicted upon Floridians.

“Extreme politicians have stripped away the personal freedoms and parental rights of Floridians while paying lip service to those fundamental liberties,” said Representative Eskamani. “The Health Care Freedom Act restores the fundamental rights and freedoms of Floridians to make their own personal and potentially life-saving healthcare decisions without political interference. This legislation is even more important today as we face extremism from the White House.”

The Health Care Freedom Act repeals Governor DeSantis’s near-total 6-Week Abortion Ban (SB 300 (2023)), restoring abortion access up until the start of the third trimester. It also repeals numerous discriminatory restrictions on essential medical care for transgender minors and adults, renewing access to care supported by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and other leading medical authorities.

The legislation also repeals provisions of the “License to Discriminate in Health Care” law (SB 1580 (2023)) that allows any health care provider or insurer to refuse any service based on personal “religious, moral, or ethical” preferences. Additionally, it increases transparency for patients by requiring patient notification in circumstances where a provider declines to perform certain services.

Senator Jones added, “This is about protecting patients, their decision-making, and aligning our policies with the value of freedom that we all share. This will remove discriminatory barriers to care and end political interference in Floridians’ personal medical decisions.”

Freedom to Learn Act sponsor Representative Nixon stated, “Since 2021, we have seen a concerted effort by the Governor to silence Black voices, devalue the humanity and contributions of already marginalized groups, and sanitize American history. Republicans have turned our schools over to book-banning extremists and are allowing our youth to be indoctrinated into ignorance while students of color, LGBTQ people, and families are relentlessly attacked. These efforts only work to placate bigots, embolden discrimination, and ensure our students are not prepared for the 21st century. They have no place in the ‘Free State of Florida.'”

Senator Davis added, “Florida’s Department of Education has been distracted with culture wars and other nonsense for years, and it shows in our childrens’ test scores and preparedness. Removing books on history or LGBTQ+ people does not mean it is not real, it just weakens our education system. This bill would take away these ridiculous political stunts and return the Department of Education back to its actual goal of guiding the education of our children.”

Following several recent years of political censorship in K-20 classrooms, the Freedom to Learn Act seeks to safeguard academic freedom and ensure our schools teach honest history while ensuring every student is protected and every family is respected. It repeals the Stop WOKE Act’s prohibition on discussing topics like systemic injustice or racism and repeals harmful provisions of Florida’s “Don’t Say LGBTQ” law. The legislation also adds LGBTQ history to public education requirements alongside existing Holocaust, African American, and women’s history education requirements. Furthermore, it would curb book-banning abuses. The bill limits who can raise objections to instructional materials to parents of public school students, rather than anyone in the county, which has contributed to 60% of book challenges nationally coming from just 11 individuals. The legislation also repeals the funding ban on diversity, equity, and inclusion programming and student activities in state colleges and universities.

Equality Florida enthusiastically supports both pieces of legislation and applauds the sponsors for introducing them. “Floridians cannot be truly free until their fundamental right to bodily autonomy, their freedom to learn, and their freedom to make personal healthcare decisions without political interference are fully restored,” said Jon Harris Maurer. “Our state can do better and will do better when it gets back to being a place where everyone is free to succeed, and these reforms are an important step in that direction.”

######

Equality Florida is the largest civil rights organization dedicated to securing full equality for Florida’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community. Through education, grassroots organizing, coalition building, and lobbying, we are changing Florida so that no one suffers harassment or discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity.