Florida declares forced birth confusion an "immediate danger"; Lakeland commissioners must step in and clarify

Here is the text of what I'm asking the Lakeland City Commission on Monday to do about clarifying the brutalizingly unclear requirements of Jennifer Canady's 6-week forced birth law.

What follows is the text of what I’m planning to read to Lakeland City Commissioners Monday morning. I sent a version of this Friday to commissioners and to Lakeland Regional Health (LRH). I’ve revised the final version a bit for length and clarity. But the substance is the same.

I asked LRH to confirm receipt of my requests for information and share with CEO Danielle Drummond. LRH confirmed receipt; but I don’t know if Drummond has seen my statement or request.

I should be clear; I’m unimportant. I’m just a citizen who takes the law and the public good seriously. I’m easy to ignore; and I will be very pleasantly surprised if this generates any serious public discussion. I’ll be very pleasantly surprised if anyone speaks at all to the “immediate danger” state government has declared and how local “leaders” can address it.

Political fear and abdication of responsibility defines every “pro-life” leader or officeholder I know today. Not one is willing to own and govern their beliefs in a serious way — at least not up until now. Perhaps this will prompt someone to step up.

In any event, they can’t say they weren’t asked to.

Here is my statement:

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Good morning, commissioners:

Last year, Lakeland Regional Health refused to allow a suffering pregnant woman with a fetus doomed by a condition called Potter Syndrome to end her pregnancy at 23 weeks. Instead, LRH forced the woman to endure an additional four months of pregnancy. LRH forced this mother to give birth to a fetus everyone knew would die when born. This was well-documented by media reports at the time.

LRH blamed former state senator Kelli Stargel’s 15-week forced birth law for its decision; Kelli Stargel, in turn, blamed LRH for misinterpreting her law and said the woman should be able to end her pregnancy. Thus, neither LRH nor Kelli Stargel wanted this brutal forced birth to happen. And yet, both forced it to happen all the same. It is unclear if this would happen again if the same situation arose today.

This type of brutalizing, official confusion is what led Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration (ACHA) to declare just days ago “there is an immediate danger to the health, safety, and welfare of pregnant women and babies” due to a lack of clarity over how doctors can and cannot treat pregnant women. The onset of Jennifer Canady’s 6-week forced birth law has made the consequences of this confusion far, far worse.  

For example, up to 20 percent of pregnancies end in miscarriage. And 6-week forced birth appears to make many standard treatments for miscarriage illegal.

Jennifer Canady and other state lawmakers who wanted 6-week forced birth have completely abandoned their responsibility. They refuse to explain to pregnant women and health care providers which pregnancy complications and fatal fetal anomalies can be treated -- and which cannot.

That leaves, you, commissioners, to step into the void to prevent brutalities like the Potter Syndrome mother experienced from happening again, at scale. Local government clearly has an important role to play in times of public health crisis. During COVID, for instance, the City Commission and LRH worked together closely.

In this crisis, together with LRH, you have a moral and public health obligation to explain in writing, precisely and unambiguously, what the law requires – and what women can expect to experience under 6-week forced birth moving forward.

Whatever one’s political position on 6-week forced birth, it is the law today, right now. Women are living with its consequences at this moment. The “immediate danger to the health, safety, and welfare of pregnant women and babies” cited by state health care officials is happening right now.

So I’m asking the City to convene a public Maternal Health Care summit to clarify the requirements and exceptions to Canady’s 6-week forced birth law. I doubt Canady will come; but you should ask her anyway. It’s her law, not yours.

At the very least, the summit should produce 1) a comprehensive list of life-threatening conditions LRH and other doctors are allowed to treat and 2) a comprehensive list of fatal fetal anomalies, like Potter Syndrome, that allow a pregnant woman to end her pregnancy.

The state Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) recently identified a total of two life-threatening pregnancy conditions that doctors can unambiguously treat without fear of prosecution. They are ectopic pregnancy and molar pregnancy.

The state named a third condition – premature rupture of membranes, which affects up to 10 percent of pregnancies – as eligible for pregnancy termination. But the state guidance for treating membrane rupture is completely incomprehensible and seems useless to any woman or doctor. The state list refers to “other” life-threatening conditions, but does not name them. LRH needs to name them.

By contrast, there is no state “fatal fetal anomalies” list -- at all. It does not exist. It’s up to local government and LRH to create one.

In addition to requesting these two comprehensive lists, I have provided several additional questions and requests for information that should be addressed by the summit and/or any public collaboration with LRH.

• Would LRH force the Potter Syndrome mother to give birth again if the same situation arose today?

• Which previously standard miscarriage treatments under Roe does LRH now consider illegal? Which were legal under 15-week forced birth that became illegal with Jennifer Canady’s 6-week forced birth law taking effect?

• How much threat a woman must face for a pregnancy termination to be legal under the “save the pregnant woman’s life” exception in state law. Is there a percentage — 100 percent certain to die? 85 percent? 35 percent?

• What is the LRH protocol for addressing the state’s incomprehensible requirements for treating premature membrane rupture.

• How do LRH lawyers define “reasonable medical judgement” and “major bodily function?” Release all internal deliberations about what Canady’s 6-week law requires and forbids.

• Are doctors required to wait 24 hours to perform an emergency pregnancy termination, as the law seems to require?

• What is the process two doctors must follow to certify the legal need for pregnancy termination? Provide any standard form or paperwork they must fill out.

• How are two doctors chosen to act as judge and jury on pregnancy termination? Are they required to consult with LRH lawyers or administrators? What if LRH doctors and lawyers disagree? Who wins?

• Share and publish anything else that helps a woman prepare and plan for her pregnancy at LRH.

I’m providing you each a copy of the state’s 6-week forced birth law and its “exceptions,” a copy of this statement, and the list of questions/information queries you should put to LRH on behalf of the public.

Thank you for your time.

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