The state Senate of Florida is slated to pass a pro-life 15-week abortion ban all while Democrats hurl last-ditch efforts at it to try and block or slow down the bill.
Democratic legislators put out a series of 13 amendments this past week targeting the 15-week abortion ban, HB 5, also known as the Reducing Fetal and Infant Mortality Act, which passed through the statehouse this past February and is slated to make it through the state Senate on Thursday. It was stated by Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) that he was in support of the bill and is planning to most likely sign it. If he does choose to sign it, its effects would begin seeing fruition in July.
“The governor supports pro-life legislation and is not responding to outcry from pro-abortion activists,” stated Christina Pushaw, a spokesperson for DeSantis. “The bottom line is that they’re demanding abortion after 15 weeks, which is when the fetus can already feel pain and is near viability; babies born as early as 20 weeks have survived.”
The bill would allow exceptions when the life of the mother is at risk or in danger of “irreversible physical impairment,” or if the unborn baby has a fetal abnormality, of which the example of Down Syndrome was used. However, it does not offer any exceptions for rape.
The sponsor of the bill, Republican state Sen. Kelli Stargel, argued that it is entirely false to say that a “child should be killed because of the circumstances in which it was conceived.” Stargel’s stance seems to be mirrored by the governor’s office: “An innocent baby should not pay the ultimate price for a crime they did not commit,” Pushaw stated.
Reportedly, this piece of legislation has filled Florida’s abortion supporters with concern as they sit and wait on a decision in the Supreme Court case Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which is a case that deals with a 2018 Mississippi law seeking to ban all abortions after 15 weeks.
The case, which attempts to determine whether any bans on abortion before fetal viability are constitutional or not, may end up being the most influential abortion case in history, due to the fact that it directly goes up against the massive Roe v. Wade decision from the Supreme Court.
We joined the @WhiteHouse today along w/other elected officials, reproductive health providers, abortion funds & community advocates to amplify what’s happening in FL with #HB5 and what it’s going to take to ensure access to care as states like ours try to ban abortion. pic.twitter.com/hTxlympoJn
— Rep. Anna V. Eskamani 🔨 (@AnnaForFlorida) March 3, 2022
This past Wednesday, Democrats forced Republicans to endure almost four and a half hours listening to full-length explanations of each of these amendments, quite a few of which are related to paternity and men.
Tina Scott Polsky, one Florida state senator who was a Democrat representative of Palm Beach, put forth an amendment requiring fathers to start paying child support “for an unborn child 15 beginning at the gestational age of 15 weeks.”
“While this amendment may have been voted down, I think it was and is incredibly important,” she claimed in a statement. “Every state authorizes a custodial parent, the one who has the physical custody and daily care responsibilities, the right to child support, so arguably a pregnant woman should begin receiving payments at the 15-week mark.”
“This bill ensures that a person carrying a fetus to term is financially supported by the person who caused insemination of the egg before and after the fetus comes out of the womb,” she stated. “If a person cannot get an abortion, their fetus and child should at least be supported financially.”
Another Democratic state senator from Miami, Annette Taddeo, put forth another amendment that seems to be in response to legislation that mandated that women undergo heavy counseling before abortions since it also mandates that men go through counseling before vasectomies.
Sen. @Annette_Taddeo's amendment to the abortion ban #HB5 would require two doctors to sign off on a vasectomy. "We don't have a two-doctor requirement on any other medical procedure. If we're going to do it to women, let's also require it for men."
— Florida Planned Parenthood Action (@PPactionFL) March 2, 2022
“A physician may not perform a vasectomy procedure unless two physicians certify in writing that they have counseled the man seeking the vasectomy procedure on the fact that the procedure will prevent future life from being created,” claims the amendment.