Florida AG is using abortion rights as a political stunt and women will suffer | Opinion

Florida families are being squeezed from every direction. Electricity bills are climbing, groceries cost more than ever and the price of housing continues to spiral out of reach. Yet instead of going after the corporate giants driving up costs, Attorney General James Uthmeier — whom one of the authors is running against in 2026 — is spending taxpayer dollars waging a political crusade against women’s healthcare.

His latest stunt, suing Planned Parenthood under racketeering laws, threatens the safety of thousands of women who rely on Planned Parenthood services for basic healthcare, including mammograms, prenatal care and family planning.

In his lawsuit, Uthmeier seeks to impose a $350 million penalty, an additional $1 million per defendant that he believes liable for “racketeering” and the cessation of Planned Parenthood’s operations across Florida and even across the country.

Is that where the majority of Floridians want their taxpayer dollars going towards? No, it is not. Last November, 57.2% of voters statewide supported Amendment 4, the measure to limit government interference with abortion. The majority of Floridians made it clear that women’s healthcare choices should be left to women, their families, and their healthcare providers. But instead of listening to voters and focusing on the real issues we have in our state, Uthmeier is using women’s healthcare to score cheap political points.

If our current attorney general wanted to use the power of the office to actually help Floridians, he should investigate Florida Power & Light, a monopoly utility that has repeatedly raised rates while pocketing record profits.

He should go after corporate price gouging that makes it harder for working families to afford groceries, rent, and medication. He should protect against wage theft and ensure workers are getting paid fairly. He should prevent masked ICE agents from acting with impunity, ignoring all due process for immigration. There is a long list of many things the attorney general can do to improve the lives of families in our state, but suing Planned Parenthood is not one of them.

Florida deserves leadership that is focused on serving the public. That means using the law to keep our communities safe, hold powerful corporations accountable, to lower costs, and to protect the rights and freedoms of every Floridian — not to strip them away.

Women in Florida have already lost so much under this administration: the right to make their own healthcare decisions, access to affordable care and the peace of mind that comes from knowing their state will defend, not endanger, them.

Floridians don’t need an attorney general obsessed with controlling women; they need one who will stand up to corporations and corrupt politicians driving up their bills.

José Javier Rodríguez, a former state senator, is a Democratic candidate for Florida attorney general. Anna Hochkammer is the former executive committee member of Floridians Protecting Freedom and former vice mayor of Pinecrest.