Voters should be skeptical about Florida governor candidate’s abortion stance | Opinion

Florida Democrats believe in the right to abortion access.

Last November, over 90% of Democrats voted “Yes” on Amendment 4, the measure to limit government interference with abortion.

In fact, the majority of Floridians agree. A clear 57.2% of voters statewide supported Amendment 4, more than voted for either President Donald Trump or Sen. Rick Scott. There is broad, bipartisan agreement on this issue.

Former Congressman David Jolly was a Republican until recently, when he registered as “NPA.” Then, earlier this year, he switched his party affiliation to Democrat and filed to run for governor of Florida in the Democratic primary.

Jolly now claims to support the “Roe standard” — shorthand for access to abortion until viability — and opposes the inhumane six-week abortion ban currently on the books. When asked about his political shift, Jolly likes to say his “values haven’t changed,” then quickly moves to his next talking point.

Hold on. Hold on, Democrats. Hold on, Floridians.

In 2016, Jolly told the Tampa Bay Times that he believes “life begins at conception” and boasted, “I authored the legislation to defund Planned Parenthood.” He co-sponsored a bill that would define a fertilized egg as a “pre-born human” with full 14th Amendment protections — a move that would criminalize all abortions nationwide, in every circumstance.

We’re already seeing the impact of such laws. In Georgia, a brain-dead woman was kept alive to carry an 8-week pregnancy after suffering massive cerebral blood clots. Her family was forced to wait three months while her body decayed. Only recently was she taken off life support.

When Jolly says his values haven’t changed, we must ask: What exactly are those values? What “values” would strip families of the right to seek modern medical care? What “values” would deny someone the chance to navigate pregnancy and its complications with their doctor and family? What “values” would tell parents they have no say after a traumatic, life-altering event affects their daughter?

If his values haven’t changed, Jolly is not the right candidate for governor on the Democratic ticket. Regardless of personal beliefs about when life begins, Democrats believe it is unacceptable to deny women and girls the ability to make private healthcare decisions about their bodies, their families and their futures without government interference.

Jolly was absent during the statewide fight to pass Amendment 4. I know — I was in the trenches. For 18 months, I traveled across Florida as executive director of the Florida Women’s Freedom Coalition, a bipartisan organization working with people of all political backgrounds to secure abortion access and limit government control. I sat in rooms with Republicans, Catholics, Jews, Democrats and NPAs. David Jolly was nowhere to be found.

His recent record as a political commentator on MSNBC is largely silent on abortion. There’s a lot of space between pushing for fetal personhood — which he once did — and vaguely promising to “codify Roe.” What does Jolly mean by that? How would he do it? For whom? Minors? Until what stage of pregnancy? How does he define viability?

And, as someone who once championed the most extreme anti-abortion policies, what would Jolly be willing to negotiate away with Florida’s Republican legislature? Voters deserve answers.

We all have the right — and the obligation — to reflect carefully on where we stand on abortion access. I do not question Jolly’s sincerely held beliefs. But I do object to allowing the Democratic Party, for all its flaws, to become a vehicle for the ambitious without serious scrutiny. Voters must look under the hood.

David Jolly has spent much of his political career fighting to block abortion access and destroy women’s healthcare. He now says his values haven’t changed. That should give every Democrat in Florida reason to pause.

Anna Hochkammer is the executive director of Florida Women’s Freedom Coalition.