Bill to ban abortions in Florida after 15 weeks on fast track to Gov. DeSantis’ desk

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An abortion debate in the Florida Senate Wednesday was a red, white and blue affair.

More than 60 parishioners in red jackets and shirts, who were in Tallahassee for Catholic Day at the Capitol, filed into a committee room along with physicians in white smocks and blue-jeaned clad students. They listened to discussion of whether to impose a ban on abortions in Florida after the 15th week of pregnancy.

“Abortion is always of interest to pro-life Catholics,” said Cindy Pidala of Tampa, settling into a front row seat for the two-hour hearing.

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The bill (SB 146) by Republican Sen. Kelli Stargel of Lakeland eliminates more than two months of the current 24-week period in which a doctor can perform an abortion in Florida.

Abortion has been a divisive issue in politics ever since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision established a right to an abortion in 1973.

Florida lawmakers have put on a fast track a proposal that mirrors a Mississippi law currently before the U.S. Supreme Court. A decision is expected this summer.

With a high court reshaped by former President Donald Trump and a Florida Supreme Court now with a majority of justices selected by Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Gov. Rick Scott, conservatives think the time is right to either undermine or even do away with abortion access in Florida.

Pidala was among a delegation of red-clad Catholics who filled about half of the available seats in a visual display of support for the bill.

Opponents, including Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried who was among those who spoke when public comment was taken, aimed to make the debate personal – arguing every pregnancy is unique and a time-certain deadline for abortion is a “one-size-fits all” approach to health care that doesn’t work.

The political climate in Tallahassee is favorable for the bill to land quickly on the desk of Gov. Ron DeSantis, who said a 15-week ban “makes sense.” House Speaker Chris Sprowls said the bill would provide new resources to reduce infant mortality, and Senate President Wilton Simpson has also spoke favorably about it.

The committee rejected, however, an amendment from Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book of Plantation – a child sexual battery survivor – that would have included exceptions for rape and incest.

Florida Commissioner of Agricultural Nikki Fried speaks against SB 146, a proposed abortion bill in the Florida Senate, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022.
Florida Commissioner of Agricultural Nikki Fried speaks against SB 146, a proposed abortion bill in the Florida Senate, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022.

Fried, also a Democratic candidate for governor, begged some of the Republicans on the panel not to sacrifice a woman’s constitutional right on the altar of political gain.

“I know this is not something that you want to do. I know this is not a priority of yours and you are forced into this situation,” she told the lawmakers. “Do right by your constituents, not by the leaders of your party.”

Fried was followed by John Stemberger of the Orlando-based Florida Family Policy Council, an advocacy group focused on “marriage, family, and liberty.”

“The problem this bill solves is that Florida has become a late-term abortion destination state ... we’re not just known for our theme parks,” Stemberger said.

A legislative staff analysis said that in 2020, “there were 209,645 live births in Florida. In the same year, there were 72,073 abortion procedures performed in the state.”

Of those, 70,594 – or nearly 98 percent – “were performed in the first trimester (12 weeks and under); 4,274 were performed in the second trimester (13 to 24 weeks); and none were performed in the third trimester (25 weeks and over),” according to the analysis.

Opponents say a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach doesn’t work in health care

Kelly Flynn of Jacksonville runs A Woman’s Choice Inc., which operates four reproductive services clinics in Florida and North Carolina. She argued before lawmakers that a decision to terminate a pregnancy belongs in the exam room between a patient and doctor and not in a room filled with politicians.

Flynn also said Stargel’s proposal strips women of bodily autonomy: “For the state to barge into the most intimate, personal decision is an overreach of staggering proportions,” she said.

But Stargel, under questioning by Sen. Shevrin Jones, D-West Park, explained why she drew the line at 15 weeks: “These are babies. These are a separate and apart human being within that woman ... and the court has long recognized important, legitimate interest (in) protecting the potentiality of human life.”

Stargel reminded the committee that since her first year in the Legislature in 2008 she worked to roll back abortion access because she believes life begins at conception.

Senators Kelli Stargel, Dennis Baxley and Ben Albritton chat with one another before hearing public comment on SB 146, a proposed abortion bill in the Florida Senate, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022.
Senators Kelli Stargel, Dennis Baxley and Ben Albritton chat with one another before hearing public comment on SB 146, a proposed abortion bill in the Florida Senate, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022.

If her proposal were to become law, it would likely face a challenge before the Florida Supreme Court, with much weighing on how the Mississippi case is decided. “If we have to make changes later on, we can,” she said.

The Health Policy Committee eventually cleared Stargel’s bill on a 6-4 party line vote. It has one more committee before it goes before the full Senate.

The House version, sponsored by GOP state Rep. Erin Grall of Vero Beach, has cleared two committees by a combined vote of 22-11, and is one committee from a House floor vote.

Said Flynn about abortion access in Florida: “With this 15-week ban, ... they’re going to chip away a little bit more and more until it’s no more.”

James Call is a member of the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jcall@tallahassee.com. Follow on him Twitter: @CallTallahassee

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida 15-week abortion ban clears Senate panel on party line vote