Reproductive Rights News Roundup – January 23rd 2026

Week one of Legislative Session just wrapped up, so let’s dive right in.

Yesterday, House lawmakers debated and voted on the Abusers’ Bill of Rights on the House floor. As a reminder, this is the bill that allows anyone who impregnated someone else to sue if that pregnancy is not carried to term.

Legislators supporting reproductive freedom filed 8 amendments that could have reduced some of the harm from this bad bill by ensuring abortion care and IVF would be protected, surrogates and doulas couldn’t be sued, and abusers and rapists wouldn’t be incentivized to harass survivors and the people who support them. Unfortunately, all of these amendments failed.

The final vote was 76 in favor of the bill, 34 opposed, with all Democrats opposing along with 3 Republicans.

This fight isn’t over. The bill still has 2 committees in the Senate before all Senators vote on it, so we have to keep organizing. Use this link to urge your Senator to vote no.

This is one of many bills we’ll keep you updated on this session, along with protecting health care for minors, keep anti-abortion indoctrination out of our schools, protecting IVF and surrogacy, and defending health care for transgender Floridians.

Legislative session was never meant to be something we all just learned about passively or after the fact; this is a process that can and should be shaped by the power and the priorities of the people. That is why we organize.

Florida’s Legislative Session

House Bill 743 and Senate Bill 1010 hand the Attorney General sweeping authority to investigate and sue school staff and health care providers under vague and undefined standards, intensifying Florida’s attacks on transgender youth and LGBTQ+ communities.

Instead of protecting children or families, these bills will reduce access to health care for everyone, drive providers and educators out of the state, saddle taxpayers with new costs, and erode public trust.

Click here to urge lawmakers to vote NO on these bills when they’re in their first committees on Tuesday, January 20th.

Events & Volunteer Opportunities

Florida Action Network is hosting a series of Supply Drives.

You can donate here:

Central Florida

– Repro Kit Supply Drive

– Diaper Supply Drive

South Florida:

– Period Pantry Supply Drive

– Repro Kit Supply Drive

The League of Women Voters St. Pete will be doing “Hot Girl Walks” in late February where they’ll be visiting local businesses to deliver information and resources on reproductive health.

If you have flyers, stickers, educational materials, or sexual health goodies that you’d like to donate, please email reproductiverights@lwvspa.org.

The Palm Beach Dinner Dance w/Planned Parenthood of Florida
Monday, January 26th at 6:00pm EST

Club Colette

Donate to attend.

Premiere of Our 10-Year Anniversary Documentary: Off the Sidelines w/Men4Choice
Monday, January 26th, 6:00pm – 7:30pm EST

State Resolution Webinar w/ SBJN and Sistersong

Wednesday, January 28th, 6:00pm EST

Dare to Raise the Bar fundraiser w/Women’s Foundation of Florida
Wednesday, January 28th, 6:00pm – 8:00pm EST

Garden District Tap Room, West Palm Beach

Attire: Wear Your Daring Colors (think neon and bright)

Buy tickets to attend.

KNOW MEANS KNOW: How (and Why!) to Organize with Gen Z w/Educate US
Wednesday, January 28th, 7:30pm – 8:30pm EST

January/February 2026 Book Club w/Virginia Women’s Foundation & Women’s Foundation of Florida

Thursday, February 5, 7:00- 8:00pm EST

Book Signing & Discussion with Dr. Shelley Sella w/RGB Fund

Monday, February 2nd at 7:00pm EST

Tallahassee: Event location will be shared with registrants the day before the event.

A Voice For Reproductive Justice: A Training For Medical Professionals w/ACLU Florida

Wednesday, February 18 6:30 – 8pm EST

Patient Escorts Needed in Pinellas County

Due to a rise of protesters outside of an abortion clinic in Pinellas County, additional patient escorts are needed to ensure patients can enter and exit the facility safely and with minimal interactions with protesters.

There is a strict non-engagement policy: volunteer escorts will NOT engage, film, or provoke protesters.

If you’re interested in learning more, please email reproductiverights@lwvspa.org.

Advocacy Days in Tallahassee

There are so many opportunities to travel to Tallahassee this Legislative Session to make your voice heard. Most organizations offer financial and travel assistance. First-time advocates and experienced pros are welcome!

Pride at the Capital - Lobby Days 2026 w/SAVE & PRISM

Pride at the Capitol – Lobby Days 2026: SAVE & PRISM
Jan 26th, 6:30am – Jan 28th, 11:30pm.
Round-trip bus transportation from South Florida to Tallahassee

Equal Ground and Clergy Day at the Capitol

February 3rd–4th: travel assistance is available for multiple cities.

Birth Justice Days: Southern Birth Justice Network
February 10th – 11th: financial assistance and transportation is available.

Advocacy Days at the Capitol: Planned Parenthood of Florida
February 10th – 12th: financial assistance and transportation is available.

Want to help bring more people to Tallahassee? Click here to volunteer to recruit fellow Floridians!

News Roundup

Florida

Democratic Leaders Fentrice Driskell and Tracie Davis propose Reproductive Freedom Act
By Jesse Mendoza, Florida Politics
Democratic legislative leaders have filed companion bills to dramatically roll back Florida’s abortion restrictions and establish a statutory right to reproductive health care.

Florida Democrats introduce bill to restore abortion protections
By Cody Butler, \WCTV/Gray Florida Capital Bureau
Florida Democrats introduced legislation to restore abortion protections in the state, filing the Reproductive Freedom Act on the 53rd anniversary of the Roe v. Wade ruling.

Abortion politics leave center stage
By Kimberly Leonard and Kylie Williams, Politico
The issue of abortion rights was supposed to be central to the 2024 election in Florida — it was literally on the ballot.

Demonstrators mark Roe v. Wade anniversary, calling for federal abortion protections
By Leah Burdick, WMNF Tampa Bay
Demonstrators calling for Florida legislators to restore abortion rights. Photo by Leah Burdick
January 22 was the 53rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the decision that established abortion rights nationwide and was overturned two years ago.

Florida’s abortion ban jeopardizes women’s health
By Natalie F. Fleming, Palm Beach Post
In 2023, Gov. Ron DeSantis brought down a severe and drastic abortion ban after just six weeks of gestation.

Florida Woman Sues IVF Clinic After Allegedly Birthing Someone Else’s Baby
By Alex DeLuca, Miami New Times
A Florida woman is suing an Orlando-area fertility clinic after an in vitro fertilization (IVF) mix-up allegedly led to her giving birth to someone else’s biological child.

Florida Passes Law Granting Viruses Personhood (satire)
Staff Report, The Onion
In a move that supporters have called a long overdue acknowledgment of the rights that should be accorded to all infectious agents, the Florida Legislature passed HB 1637 Wednesday, a law granting viruses personhood.

National

The Erosion of Reproductive Freedom and Democracy One Year Under Trump
Staff Report, Reproductive Freedom for All
One year ago, Donald Trump returned to the White House and launched an onslaught of attacks against reproductive freedom and other fundamental rights—all while swiftly punishing those who dared to defy him.

US to expand anti-abortion aid rule to cover ‘gender ideology,’ diversity
By Simon Lewis, Reuters
The Trump administration is set to expand the Mexico City Policy that blocks U.S. assistance to organizations that provide or promote abortions to cover groups involved in what the administration calls “gender ideology” and diversity, equity and inclusion, an administration official said on Thursday.

Trump’s Abortion Strategy? Do Nothing. But His Base Has Other Plans.
By Nina Martin, Mother Jones
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump made a suggestion that landed on a key part of his far-right coalition like a sucker punch.

Why Medication Abortion Is the Top Target for Anti-Abortion Groups in 2026
By Julie Rovner, KFF Health News
This week would have marked the 53rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide — that is, until 2022, when the court overturned it. Since then, abortion has been banned in 13 states and severely limited in 10 others.

Mifepristone Could Treat Endometriosis, Some Cancers, Depression and Chronic Illness—If Politics Didn’t Interfere
By Carrie N. Baker, Ms. Magazine
The story of mifepristone and fibroids is not an isolated case—it is a pattern. Across a range of conditions that disproportionately affect women, research into the drug’s potential has been slowed, defunded or blocked altogether.

Trump Has Made Pregnancy in America Harder Than Ever
By Casey Quinlan, The New Republic
Only a few days into the new year, the Heritage Foundation released its nearly 170-page plan to incentivize higher birth rates, at least within the families it would like to see reproduce.

Abortion Access Can’t Depend on Rage Donations
By David S. Cohen and Carole Joffe, Ms. Magazine
Now, almost three and a half years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the numbers are clear that abortion in the United States has, to the shock of most, continued to rise.

How abortion coverage threatens to prevent a congressional deal on health care subsidies
By Mary Clare Jalonick, Associated Press
There is broad bipartisan support in the House and Senate for reviving federal health care subsidies that expired at the beginning of the year.

Trials show successful ballot initiatives are only the beginning of restoring abortion access
By Kelcie Moseley-Morris, Florida Phoenix
The outcome of two trials in the coming weeks could shape what it will look like when voters overturn state abortion bans through future ballot initiatives.

Virginia lawmakers send reproductive rights amendment toward November vote
By Charlotte Rene Woods, States Newsroom
A proposal allowing mid-decade redistricting of Virginia’s congressional maps that cleared the legislature last week may dominate debate heading into a spring special referendum, but a constitutional amendment on reproductive rights is poised to ignite similar fervor as the November election approaches.

Native Americans Are Dying From Pregnancy. They Want a Voice To Stop the Trend.
By Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez, KFF Health News
Just hours after Rhonda Swaney left a prenatal appointment for her first pregnancy, she felt severe pain in her stomach and started vomiting.

Supreme Court nixes Sixth Circuit ruling on grant funding for anti-abortion states
By Steve Garrison, Courthouse News
Overruling the Sixth Circuit, the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday found Tennessee remains eligible for millions of dollars in federal family planning funding despite restrictions on abortion.

New research

Pregnancy- and Abortion-Related Mortality in the US, 2018-2021
By Maria W. Steenland, Kerra Mercon and Benjamin P. Brown, JAMA Network
These findings suggest that by taking away the option to end a pregnancy, abortion bans force pregnant people to take on the substantially increased health risks associated with continued pregnancy.