Ron DeSantis Chooses Guns Over Women's Rghts

I never thought Florida could sink lower—though, to be fair, it’s been sinking figuratively and literally, for years now—after last week’s announcement allowing Floridians to openly carry a weapon without a permit and with no training; in the land of Stand Your Ground the blood will soon flow.

But also last week the Florida High School Athletics Association [FHSAA ] announced its decision to require student athletes to give their schools detailed information about their periods if they choose to sign up for a sports team.

In October the FHSAA changed its annual physical form for student athletes to a digital version and this new form includes optional but detailed questions about students’ menstruation cycles, including when they got their first period, when they had their most recent one, and how many weeks pass between periods. Previously, only one page of the paper form—on which a pediatrician would sign off on a student being allowed to play—would be submitted to a school. But the entire digital form will now be submitted.

Oh, it’s optional, okay them  guess I got all riled for no good reas—and then this: the FHSAA has since changed the optional requirement to mandatory. The recommendation now goes before the FHSAA board of directors, which will meet in late February to make the final decision.

While students’ medical history is necessary for doctors, should the athlete be hurt while playing their sport and require medical attention, but no one knows why any school would need menstrual cycle information other than Ron DeFacsist’s anti-transgender bias and pregnancy and abortion information.

And controlling women’s bodies.

There are parents, and doctors, who worry that schools will use the menstrual data to monitor students for late or missed periods, a possible sign of pregnancy, or to out transgender students by watching for girls who don’t get periods or boys who do.

Florida school administrators say the information will stay private, but there’s no guarantee it will. The platform that hosts Florida’s new digital athletics form are not owned by medical institutions and therefore are not subject to health privacy laws. If subpoenaed for someone’s data, particularly in a state where abortion has been made illegal, companies would be required to hand it over.

Florida has been subjugating women and gender minorities since Ron DeSantis was elected; the state has banned abortion after 15 weeks, forbidden transgender girls from playing on girls’ sports teams, and barred Floridians from using Medicaid to pay for gender-affirming treatments.

Funny, or sad, Florida has given all the freedom in the world to people who want guns, but keep restricting the freedoms of women.

Remember, though, women vote, guns don’t.

Cast a goddamned vote and vote Blue.

New Republic