TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Rejecting Democratic efforts to change it, the Republican-controlled Legislature gave final approval Thursday to a near-total ban on abortion after six weeks, sending the bill to Gov. Ron DeSantis who has said he would sign it.
The 70-40 vote mostly along party lines in the House came during a daylong hearing where dozens of amendments proposed by Democrats were shot down one by one. The Senate approved the bill earlier this month.
The law would take effect only if the Florida Supreme Court rejects a challenge to the constitutionality of the state’s existing 15-week ban in a case pending before it.
“We have the opportunity to lead the nation on protecting life and giving every child the opportunity to be born and find his or her purpose,” bill sponsor Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka, R-Fort Myers, said at the end of a debate that lasted more than seven hours.
Stephanie Fraim, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, said she anticipates a wave of people further along than six weeks will try to get an abortion before it’s too late, as has been seen in other states prior to six-week or all-out bans.
Planned Parenthood will aim to expand clinic hours and appointment availability to provide abortions to as many people as possible, likely up until midnight on the day the law begins.
”The reality is some people will not get in (to the clinic) in time,” Fraim said.
The vote came after hours of emotionally charged debate full of personal stories and quotes from the Bible that pitted abortion-rights supporters Democrats against anti-abortion Republicans, several of whom proclaimed the prevailing conservative Christian view that life begins at conception.
“Either you value life or you don’t, it’s really that simple,” said Rep. Chase Tramont, R-Port Orange. “What this is about for me personally is upholding the flagship commitment I made when I became an elected official to give a voice to the voiceless and speak for those that physically cannot speak for themselves at every stage of life.”
Noting that it’s a felony to destroy a sea turtle or alligator egg, Rep. Shane Abbott, R-Marianna, said, “We’re willing to protect an unborn alligator and an unborn sea turtle, but we’re here debating whether it’s worth protecting an unborn human.”
State Rep. Hillary Cassel, D-Dania Beach, urged her Republican female colleagues to “put your religion aside and stand with the women of the state … support their choice, their decision. It’s not yours.”
Democrats warned that the six-week ban would put women in peril, forcing them to carry dead fetuses for months and potentially getting sepsis or bleeding to death because they couldn’t get an abortion within the tight time frame. They also said women would go back to risking their lives to get illegal abortions.
Abortion is a moral right left to the woman alone, Rep. Rita Harris, D-Orlando said.
“I don’t need the Constitution or any constitution to have agency over my body,” Harris said. “The right to my body is an innate right. We don’t want unclear laws and muddy waters giving pause to doctors for saving a woman’s life.”
While introducing an amendment to rename the bill the “Forced Pregnancy Act,” Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, said Floridians overwhelmingly oppose abortion bans.
“We are hearing from constituents about their bodily autonomy and ability to choose their destiny,” said Eskamani, a former employee of Planned Parenthood. “You should be able to choose having a child and raising it, giving it up for adoption, or ending the pregnancy. This amendment gives truth to the bill that it forces people into pregnancy before they know they are pregnant.”
It failed to pass, along with an amendment to postpone the law until “21 years after the death of the last surviving descendant of King Charles III, King of England, who is alive on July 1, 2023.”
“It worked for Disney, I thought it would work for me,” Eskamani said, referring to a last-minute declaration of restrictive covenants approved by the Reedy Creek Improvement District before it was dissolved and reconstituted under a law signed by DeSantis.
House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, signaled in advance on Wednesday that the 48-plus amendments introduced by Democrats would not pass. “We’re not going to change the abortion bill at this point,” he said.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision striking down the 50-year-old Roe v. Wade opened the doors for states to decide for themselves what’s best for their residents, Renner said. He said the Legislature could go even stricter but he didn’t think that is what most Floridians want.
“I believe this is the right place to be. We’ve done our level best to hit a spot that’s fair,” he said, noting that he believes life begins at conception.
About two hours into the debate and after several warnings about outbursts from the audience, the Sergeant at Arms was ordered to clear the gallery after members of Occupy Tally dropped thousands of stickers and flyers describing their personal abortion stories from the balcony.
Renner said rigorous protest needed to be conducted outside the House chamber, not inside where it could interrupt the proceedings.
While the abortion bill moved through its final stages in the Senate and House, pro-choice protesters camped out and held press conferences at the Leon County Courthouse across the street from the Capitol. Among the protesters was Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried, who was arrested on a trespassing charge last week for protesting outside Tallahassee City Hall after an 8 p.m. curfew.
The proposal is a near-total abortion ban because many women don’t even know they are pregnant at six weeks, opponents say. It also bans using telehealth services to get abortion services. And it provides $25 million for “pregnancy support and wellness” services through a network of nonmedical centers that are required to promote childbirth.
It also provides funding for nonmedical things like cribs, diapers and car seats.
The legislation includes exemptions for rape, incest or human trafficking up to 15 weeks, but a woman or girl must provide “a copy of a restraining order, police report, medical record, or other court order or documentation” providing evidence of the crime.
It also includes exceptions for the life of the mother or to avert “serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment.”
But it requires two doctors to sign off on an abortion exception for medical reasons. That’s a difficult requirement for people living in rural areas and other parts of the state where there are doctor shortages, opponents said.
Dr. Robyn Schickler, chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, said the two-doctor requirement has resulted in physicians refusing to perform surgery or prescribe medicine that aids women who are having miscarriages until the situation becomes life-threatening.
”It’s already bad at 15 weeks, but obviously taking away another nine weeks of that time is going to have such a significant impact,” Schickler said. “An example would be a patient who is potentially having a miscarriage ... when do you say she’s bleeding enough to do the procedure?”
One doctor can authorize an abortion if another doctor is unavailable and there is an “imminent” risk of death or irreversible harm to the mother. Abortion would be allowed if a “fatal fetal abnormality” is detected, and the pregnancy has not progressed to the third trimester.
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