As Florida’s governor, Charlie Crist will restore a woman’s right to choose | Opinion

On Jan. 22, 1973, seven U.S. Supreme Court justices changed the trajectory of women’s rights in the United States with the Roe v. Wade ruling, giving every woman the right to choose what to do with their bodies.

Now, nearly 50 years later, five justices single-handedly turned back the clock on women’s rights by striking down Roe v. Wade, abruptly changing the lives of millions of women today and into the future.

As a mother of two and a teacher by trade, my goal has always been to ensure that my children and my students understand and enjoy the same freedoms that I’ve had throughout my life.

Because of the Trump-appointed Supreme Court justices who voted 6-3 to strip women’s rights away, my daughter and my female students find themselves in a country that suddenly affords them fewer rights because of their gender.

The same Trump-appointed justices who lied to Congress about their stance on abortion ignored established legal precedent to deny women the right to choose their own reproductive path. We are now on the path to becoming a real-life Gilead.

In April, ahead of the Supreme Court ruling, Ron DeSantis and his Republican legislative enablers passed a severely restrictive abortion law in Florida, with no exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape, incest, or human trafficking.

For all the puffery around DeSantis’ cries of a free Florida and individual rights, he sure has a funny way of showing he cares. He has ensured that women in Florida have fewer reproductive rights than women in countries like Iran or Afghanistan.

And while we know DeSantis really enjoyed playing Tom Cruise in an ad on TV, maybe he should try role-playing Doogie Howser, M.D. next and see if playing doctor can help him understand the danger of ectopic pregnancies, and why it’s so dangerous for him to force hospitals and doctors to delay lifesaving care based on a legal decision.

The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists wrote in a statement in May that state lawmakers are “taking it upon themselves to define complex medical concepts without reference to medical evidence.”

What does all this mean for Floridians? Simply put, freedom is on the ballot this November. Your reproductive rights are on the ballot, because if DeSantis and Jeanette Nuñez are reelected, they will outlaw all abortions, with no exceptions for rape and incest, jailing doctors, nurses who defy them, maybe even women in crisis.

From now until Nov. 8, we must mobilize people across the state to put caring leadership back in charge — that’s Charlie Crist — and put an end to DeSantis’ anti-woman authoritarian rule.

The choice is ours.

Karla Hernandez, a Democrat, is Charlie Crist’s running mate for lieutenant governor.