Maria Elvira Salazar’s history of opposing abortion rights

The House Republican has consistently voted against women’s reproductive rights, even as many voters from her own party oppose measures to ban abortion in Florida.

Even as roughly 1 million registered Florida voters—150,000 of them Republican—signed a petition in support of a ballot amendment that would bar the state from restricting abortion “before viability” (usually at 24 weeks) or “when necessary to protect the patient’s health,” Republican María Elvira Salazar has consistently voted against a woman’s right to make her own reproductive health care decisions with her doctor.

While in Congress, Salazar, the representative for Florida’s 27th congressional district:

• Voted against the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would have codified the protections of Roe v. Wade into federal law.
• Voted to restrict access to medication abortion nationwide and to take away resources from active duty service members forced to travel out-of-state to get an abortion.
• Supported the Florida House when it passed CS/HB 5, a bill banning abortions after 15 weeks that was signed into law in 2022 by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
• Agreed with the ruling that paved the way for the potential six week ban that could take effect in Florida.
• Voted for Mike Johnson as House Speaker, who supports a nationwide abortion ban without exceptions for rape, incest, or to save the life of a woman.

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“Floridians, including Republicans and Independents, don’t want politicians dictating their personal health care decisions,” DCCC Spokesperson Lauryn Fanguen said in a statement in December. “Voters won’t look kindly at Salazar’s anti-abortion record in the House.”

A 2023 University of North Florida (UNF) poll showed 75% of Floridians oppose Gov. Ron DeSantis’ six-week abortion ban with 62% opposing it “strongly.” DeSantis’ six-week ban, signed into law in 2023, and the 15-week ban are currently the subject of a lawsuit before the Florida Supreme Court. If the court upholds DeSantis’ 15-week ban, the six-week ban would go into effect 30 days later.

Salazar, who was born in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood, is the daughter of Cuban exiles. Before entering politics, she worked for the Spanish-language network Telemundo as a news anchor for Miami-based WSBS TV. She also worked for CNN Español and Univision.

The 62-year-old mother of two is currently running for re-election to the US House against Democrat Lucia Báez-Geller.

RELATED: What a six-week abortion ban would mean for women in Florida