On International Women’s Day and 24 hours following the filing of House Bill 7 and Senate Bill 300 — which call for a near total abortion ban — members of the group Bans Off Miami also held gravestones emblazoned with causes of maternal mortality, the rate of which is three times higher in states with abortion bans.

According to a study by the Gender Equity Policy Institute, birthing people in states that banned abortion were up to three times more likely to die during pregnancy, during childbirth, or soon after giving birth. Just as concerning: Babies born in banned states were 30% more likely to die in their first month of life.

Senate Bill 30, introduced by Sen. Erin Grall (R-Fort Pierce), would prohibit abortions after six weeks, but does provide or exceptions in the case of rape or incest. It also provides for abortions to only be performed by physicians House Bill 7, introduced by Jenna Persons-Mulicka (R-Fort Myers) prohibits the use of state funds to travel to states that allow abortion

Activists pointed out that Florida already restricts abortion to 15 weeks, a new change ushered in last year that has already caused heartache across the state. There was the case of Deborah Dorbert, a Lakeland woman whose doctors refused to sign off on an abortion, even though her fetus had a serious condition that prevented it from surviving outside the womb, as The Washington Post reported. There’s Anabely Lopes, whose unborn child had a fatal abnormality. Her doctors were afraid to write letters recommending she terminate her pregnancy, so she had to travel from South Florida to Washington....