Florida Measure Would Target Abortion Centers and Sexually Abused Teens 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 8, 2007
Tallahassee, FL (LifeNews.com) — A newly proposed bill in the Florida legislature targets the recent development many states are seeing where sexually abused teenagers get abortions and abortion centers fail to properly inform authorities about the likelihood of rape or incest.
Under a measure sponsored by State Sen. Ronda Storms and Rep. Dennis Baxley, both Republicans, health care professionals would be obligated to call police if they suspect a patient 15 year-old or younger has been a victim of sexual abuse.
That requirement includes abortion businesses.
They would asked to collect a tissue sample from the unborn child before the abortion and send it to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. State officials would then have a DNA sample to use to find and convict someone of sexual assault.
The report would have to be made within 24 hours about knowing of alleged abuse or a pregnancy resulting from it or the abortion business or medical facility in question would lose its license.
Lillian Tamayo of the Florida Association of Planned Parenthood opposed the bill to help stop and prosecute sexual abusers. She claimed teens would be less likely to get medical help as a result of it.
"If a 15-year-old is having consensual sex with her 15-year-old boyfriend and gets pregnant and she knows if she goes to a health-care provider that the possible consequence is that her 15-year-old boyfriend could be thrown in jail, what’s the likelihood she’ll seek any care?" she told the Orlando Sentinel.
Pro-life advocates say the bill is necessary to stop sexual abusers who impregnate a young teenage girl and take her to an abortion center to cover up the crime.
Related web sites:
Related web sites:
Florida Catholic Conference – https://www.flacathconf.org
Florida Right to Life – https://www.frtl.org
Florida legislature – https://www.leg.state.fl.us
