Bill would create more hurdles to abortion

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TALLAHASSEE — Women would have to wait 24 hours and would have to make two face-to-face visits with their doctors before they could undergo an abortion under a bill that represents the latest legislative battle over abortion rights.

The legislation (SB 724) — approved in a 5-3 vote Tuesday by the Senate Health Policy Committee — has become the pivotal bill on abortion in the 60-day session. A similar House bill (HB 633) faces its final committee vote this morning, with approval meaning the legislation will be ready for the floor.

Sen. Anitere Flores, R-Miami, in San Diego in January. (AP Photo / Lenny Ignelzi)

Sen. Anitere Flores, R-Miami, in San Diego in January. (AP Photo / Lenny Ignelzi)

Proponents, like Sen. Anitere Flores, R-Miami, and Rep. Jennifer Sullivan, R-Mount Dora, say a 24-hour waiting period is an appropriate time and will allow for women to be fully informed on the risks of the procedure and condition of their fetus.

But opponents see the bills as another attempt by a conservative-led Legislature to impose new barriers on the right to have an abortion.

“This bill is just another impediment in a continuing effort to erode a woman’s right to choose,” said Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, who voted against the bill. “The (U.S.) Supreme Court has said it’s lawful, it’s legal and we just need to move on and let women decide what is in their best interest.”

Julie Costas, a Tallahassee lawyer, told Senate health policy panel that she had an abortion over 30 years ago and came to deeply regret the decision.

“Who knows if I would have changed my mind if I had received information about the procedure’s risks and the baby’s gestational age from a physician and then been required to wait 24 hours before ending my pregnancy,” she said.

Costas called the 24-hour waiting period “very reasonable,” noting some states have a 72-hour requirement.

If the Florida bill becomes law, it would join 26 states with an abortion waiting period, with the majority of states requiring 24 hours. Alabama has a 48-hour period, with three states — Utah, Missouri and South Dakota — requiring 72 hours, according to legislative analysts.

However, Florida would join a minority of states — 11 — in requiring the abortion counseling to involve two face-to-face visits.

Sen. Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood, tried to amend the Senate bill by allowing physicians to make a consultation by email, telephone or other “electronic” means, arguing the two-visit requirement was “unfair” to women and could complicate the procedure for women with limited transportation or the inability to get time off from their jobs.

Sobel’s amendment was killed in a voice vote.

The Senate bill faces review by two more committees, while the House bill is likely to be ready for a floor vote after today.

And passage of the bill would be line with the recent trend in the Legislature, which last year passed a measure that Gov. Rick Scott signed that banned abortions in cases where a fetus was deemed viable, generally defined as 23 to 24 weeks of gestation.

In 2011, the Legislature passed four abortion-related bills endorsed by Scott, including a measure requiring women undergo an ultrasound before an abortion is performed.

But while Florida lawmakers are inclined to support new restrictions on abortions, the ultimate test will come in the court system. And Florida has a unique privacy provision in its state constitution that can present a significant legal hurdle to new abortion restrictions.

Michelle Richardson, director of public policy for ACLU of Florida, said the current 24-hour waiting period bill would have difficult meeting the state constitutional test.

“There are big constitutional problems with this. The state test is very strict. The question is: are they using the least intrusive means?” Richardson said.

Richardson noted that other states do not require two visits for abortion counseling and that other more complicated medical procedures are left to the doctors to decide how to inform the patients about the risks and procedures.

She said the two face-to-face visit requirement is not likely to meet Florida’s constitutional test.

“When you have a provision like that, that is not really aimed at informed consent but is more about erecting a hurdle, it’s not going to withstand review,” she said.

The 5-3 vote by the Senate Health Policy Committee followed party lines, with Republicans in support and Democrats opposed. Sens. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, and Denise Grimsley, R-Sebring, voted for the bill.

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Lloyd Dunkelberger

Lloyd Dunkelberger is the Htpolitics.com Capital Bureau Chief. He can be reached by email or call 850 556-3542. ""More Dunkelberger" Make sure to "Like" HT Politics on Facebook for all your breaking political news.
Last modified: April 1, 2015
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