JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville Town Councilman Reggie Gaffney held a news conference Monday on proposed laws that would create a reimbursement option for city employees who travel for “medical treatments linked to reproductive rights.”
At the news conference on the steps of Town Corridor, Gaffney, who is also functioning for a state Senate seat, stated he does not believe in abortion, but that is not halting him from introducing the bill.
“I enjoy Jesus like any a person human being, but I just believe that a woman has the right to select what she needs to do with her human body, and I never imagine it’s a man’s task to do that,” said Gaffney.
News4JAX to start with claimed about this monthly bill on Friday, and at that time, even while he introducing the legislation, Gaffney didn’t want to chat about it on digital camera. On Monday, he did but didn’t want to get concerns, but I pressed him on some of the challenges.
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Read through: Gaffney’s invoice on travel reimbursement for reproductive legal rights
Standing powering Gaffney at Monday’s information convention ended up people in help, like Christina Kittle of Florida Climbing.
“It is a way to battle back from the streets to the legislative bodies,” Kittle reported. “We have 1000’s of people in the streets for this, so the need is there, and then we have an elected official who is supposed to represent us, be a representative and consider to communicate out and do the greatest that he could with a monthly bill that I believe we all know will not get the votes that it requirements.”
Viewing from afar was Margie Watkins who’s experienced abortions in the earlier and is now towards them.
“He would like to move this invoice, so if it is the woman’s appropriate, why is he standing with passing the monthly bill for them for our tax dollars?” Watkins mentioned. “No, I’m not agreeing that our tax dollars goes to the workers. If he would like to pay for the abortion out of his pocket, superior for him.”
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That is a person of the questions that I questioned Gaffney. He said that is what his nonprofit will do, reimburse girls, and that he urges other organizations in Jacksonville to do the similar.
Gaffney’s invoice will come on the heels of a leaked initial greater part viewpoint from the Supreme Courtroom on Roe v. Wade that has abortion rights advocates scrambling.
If the draft from the Supreme Court docket retains, it effectively sends the concern of abortion rights back again to the states — like it was prior to 1973, when the Roe final decision proven federally that a female had the right to have an abortion.
If states are in the driver’s seat for abortion guidelines, Florida and Ga both equally have Republican-dominated legislatures that have been efforting limited abortion restrictions. Florida just handed a 15-7 days abortion ban, and Georgia’s fetal heartbeat legislation has been basically halted by a federal court docket.
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That means a neighborhood girl who preferred to have an abortion could have to journey out of state, past neighboring Ga, to legally have 1.
Gaffney’s invoice appears to be preparing for that chance by setting up that Jacksonville town staff who opt for such procedure could be reimbursed for their journey charges.
If passed, the invoice would go into influence July 1 and permit up to $4,000 in journey costs yearly for a town staff for any clinical treatments connected to reproductive legal rights if that therapy is not obtainable within just 100 miles of the employee’s dwelling and digital treatment is not probable.
In accordance to the invoice, people solutions could include things like medicine, techniques or functions — together with terminating a being pregnant, utilizing contraceptives, household setting up or getting obtain to reproductive overall health providers.
The bill will be launched at the Jacksonville Town Council assembly on Tuesday and is getting filed as an crisis bill, which would suggest it would require only 1 cycle prior to it would go into effect, but it is not expected to move.
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On Friday afternoon, Gaffney introduced a statement saying, “As a gentleman of faith, making use of this would not be my individual choice. Having said that, as a legislator I signify all individuals and I will fight for their flexibility and their ideal to have possibilities, and every single woman justifies this selection.”
Republican users of the City Council, like Town Councilman Rory Diamond, say the invoice will hardly ever go. Considering that Friday, I have been achieving out to Republican Metropolis Councilwoman LeAnna Cumber, who is also operating for mayor, to get her point of view, but I have not listened to again. As for the mayor’s office, this is just one piece of legislation that it is not commenting on at this time.
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