Pro-Choice Voter Guide: Florida District 16

Rep. Vern Buchanan

Rep. Vern Buchanan (R) is anti-choice. He is the incumbent.

• Rep. Buchanan earned a 0-percent score in NARAL Pro-Choice America's 2011 Congressional Record on Choice.

• Voted twice to block Planned Parenthood from receiving any federal funds, which would have denied millions of Americans access to contraception, cancer screenings, and other basic medical care.

• Voted for H.R.3, a bill that would ban abortion coverage in state health-insurance exchanges; impose tax penalties on small businesses and many individuals who purchase private health plans that include abortion coverage; and make permanent several restrictions that block many women from accessing abortion care.

• Voted to allow hospitals to refuse to provide emergency abortion care to women who could die without it.

• In 2006, Rep. Buchanan stated: "Defend the Sanctity of Life: I am pro-life. I will work hard to defend life from conception to natural death. I oppose embryonic stem cell research and think we should instead encourage use of adult stem cells or umbilical cord cells. I support parental notice and consent and oppose partial birth abortion. I oppose federal funding of abortion. I will work to promote traditional family values and I will be a strong defender of life."

• Endorsed by the Florida Right to Life PAC in 2012.