U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio Reintroduces Bills To Restrict Abortion Rights, Attack Critical Race Theory

By Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix

February 2, 2023

Florida GOP U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio on Thursday reintroduced eight different bills previously co-sponsored in the past, aiming to protect Americans “from radical woke activism in all its forms.” Three of the proposals are directly linked to restricting abortion rights, according to a press release.

The first such proposal would prohibit employers from deducting expenses related to their employees’ abortion travel costs or gender affirming care for young children of their employees. It was dubbed the “No Tax Breaks for Radical Corporate Activism Act.” In the House version earlier, the bill was co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Brian Mast of Florida.

The second proposal reintroduces the “Prohibiting Federal Emergencies for Abortion Act,” which would block the Biden administration from “abusing its executive power” to declare a public-health emergency to protect access to abortion services nationwide. The measure was originally introduced on June 23 of last year, the day before the U.S. Supreme Court took away a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion. The measure was co-sponsored by 13 other Senate Republicans, including U.S Sen. Rick Scott.

A third proposal – the “Prohibiting Abortion on Federal Lands Act,” was introduced last July and was co-sponsored by seven other GOP members. It would “prohibit the federal government from promoting, supporting, or contracting with abortion entities, or otherwise expanding access to abortion on Federal lands or in Federal facilities,” according to the bill.

In another topic, Rubio reintroduced a bill about “Protecting Students From Racial Hostility Act.” The legislation would protect students from racially-hostile school environments created by the teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT) by directing the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights to enforce Title VI protections of the Civil Rights Act when a parent or student impacted by CRT submits a complaint.”

Critical race theory was originally coined decades ago as an academic term to “interrogate the role of race and racism in society that emerged in the legal academy and spread to other fields of scholarship,” according to the American Bar Association. But over the past few years, the term has been used by conservative politicians to criticize a variety of progressive-leaning politics and initiatives.

The package of bills came up when Rubio wrote a piece Thursday on the “Medium” platform titled “Americans Demand Freedom from Woke Ideology.” The anti-woke terminology has been a central tenet to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ messaging over the last year.

Here’s what Rubio said:

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