Florida Legislature Sends Controversial Abortion Bill to Crist and much more
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Florida Legislature Sends Controversial Abortion Bill to Crist
The past few months have been alarming for anyone who follows reproductive rights; as debate swirls around the potential nomination of a pro-choice Supreme Court justice, there have been much more dramatic inroads on reproductive freedom on the state level. Last week, I wrote about the passage of two Oklahoma measures that will require women to have a pre-abortion ultrasound, and allow doctors to withhold crucial information about birth defects. A Nebraska bill criminalized almost all forms of abortion after twenty weeks' gestation. In March, the Georgia legislature tried to limit abortion rights using anti-racist language, and in Florida, a legislator introduced a bill that would make nearly all forms of abortion a first-degree felony for the provider, punishable by up to life in prison.
Well, now Florida is back in the news. Late last week, Florida House Republicans pushed through a a measure to require women seeking an abortion to pay for an ultrasound and hear a doctor give a description of the fetus. This law, if passed by the governor, would place Florida next to Oklahoma in terms of extensive restrictions on a woman's right to access an abortion without moralizing, trauma or coercion. It also enforces the additional restriction that women must pay for these ultrasounds, regardless of whether they actually want one.
Ultraounds typically cost between $100 and $300, a significant burden for low-income women for whom the cost of the abortion itself may be a hardship. The only exceptions are women "at risk of significant medical harm" or victims of rape or domestic abuse. All women could choose not to view the ultrasound if they sign a form but still must hear their doctor describe the fetus.
The situation, however, is complicated by the fact that the law has been sent to Florida Governor Charlie Crist. Democrats have called on Crist, a moderate who left the Republican party a day before the bill was passed to run for the U.S. Senate as an independent, to veto the bill. Crist has vacillated on abortion in the past. In an interview, Crist said he was personally pro-life, but that he didn't like "imposing [his] will on other people." He added that it would "concern me greatly to force someone to do that, even if they can't afford to do it." Crist's defection from the Republican party has been pegged by some as a political move to capture the energy of the tea party movement, which seems to be splitting the GOP. But the Tea Party has notoriously avoided hot-button social issues like abortion, and Crist's decision may lose him votes either way. It seems odd, too, that the bill was passed just a day after Crist's decision to leave the Republican party - it seems as though the Republicans may be forcing Crist into a corner where he can't win, no matter what he decides.
From the standpoint of reproductive freedom, though, this bill is a disaster. The Democrats put up a valiant attempt to block the bill, but in the end, it's up to Crist to stop this damaging piece of legislation from passing. It worries me that all of these states have begun to subtly chip away at women's right to choose - abortion may nominally be legal in the U.S., but as these bills prove, it's very easy to pass legislation that makes abortion access difficult or impossible
Well, now Florida is back in the news. Late last week, Florida House Republicans pushed through a a measure to require women seeking an abortion to pay for an ultrasound and hear a doctor give a description of the fetus. This law, if passed by the governor, would place Florida next to Oklahoma in terms of extensive restrictions on a woman's right to access an abortion without moralizing, trauma or coercion. It also enforces the additional restriction that women must pay for these ultrasounds, regardless of whether they actually want one.
Ultraounds typically cost between $100 and $300, a significant burden for low-income women for whom the cost of the abortion itself may be a hardship. The only exceptions are women "at risk of significant medical harm" or victims of rape or domestic abuse. All women could choose not to view the ultrasound if they sign a form but still must hear their doctor describe the fetus.
The situation, however, is complicated by the fact that the law has been sent to Florida Governor Charlie Crist. Democrats have called on Crist, a moderate who left the Republican party a day before the bill was passed to run for the U.S. Senate as an independent, to veto the bill. Crist has vacillated on abortion in the past. In an interview, Crist said he was personally pro-life, but that he didn't like "imposing [his] will on other people." He added that it would "concern me greatly to force someone to do that, even if they can't afford to do it." Crist's defection from the Republican party has been pegged by some as a political move to capture the energy of the tea party movement, which seems to be splitting the GOP. But the Tea Party has notoriously avoided hot-button social issues like abortion, and Crist's decision may lose him votes either way. It seems odd, too, that the bill was passed just a day after Crist's decision to leave the Republican party - it seems as though the Republicans may be forcing Crist into a corner where he can't win, no matter what he decides.
From the standpoint of reproductive freedom, though, this bill is a disaster. The Democrats put up a valiant attempt to block the bill, but in the end, it's up to Crist to stop this damaging piece of legislation from passing. It worries me that all of these states have begun to subtly chip away at women's right to choose - abortion may nominally be legal in the U.S., but as these bills prove, it's very easy to pass legislation that makes abortion access difficult or impossible
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