Florida House Sends Bill for Pre-Abortion Ultrasound to Governor Charlie Crist
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
April 30, 2010
Tallahassee, FL (LifeNews.com) — The Florida state House gave final approval to a bill that contains a pro-life measure that would allow women a chance to see an ultrasound before having an abortion. When used in pregnancy centers, most women decided against having an abortion after seeing the images of their unborn children.
The language does not require women to view the ultrasound and gives them the ability to sign a form opting out of see one. The form also ensures abortion clinics gives women the opportunity to view the ultrasound of their baby.
The House voted 76-44 today after the state Senate voted 23-16 for the bill.
Pro-abortion lawmakers opposed the measure and claimed it would force women to pay for ultrasounds. However, studies show most abortion centers typically use an ultrasound before an abortion to determine the age of the unborn child beforehand.
Rep. Janet Long, a Democrat from Tampa, turned the debate into a sexist one, telling male legislators to "Stand down if you don’t have ovaries."
But Rep. Kelli Stargel, a Lakewood Republican, said she had an unplanned pregnancy as a high school student and says women deserve the additional information an ultrasound provides.
"It’s not a tadpole," she said, according to the Sun-Sentinel. "Let the facts speak. If a woman has those facts and then chooses to have that abortion, that’s her choice."
Rep. Alan Hays also supported the bill, adding, "What are we as a society going to say years from now about the killing of 50 million babies since Roe v. Wade? How can you find the Holocaust so objectionable and be opposed to this bill?"
The debate now heads to Governor Crist, who yesterday announced he will run an independent bid for the U.S. Senate, abandoning his Republican primary effort. Speculation now is that Crist will veto the bill and return to his pro-abortion roots after trying to woo GOP voters in the primary bid.
Rep. Chris Dorworth, a Republican, urged him not to veto the bill, according to the newspaper.
"If he vetoes this bill, he’s saying that the millions of babies who will be terminated because of this are not people. I know he’s a man of character and he won’t do that," Dorworth said.
Before the vote, Florida Family Action told LifeNews.com passage of the ultrasound bill would constitute a great victory.
"Short of the reversal of Roe v. Wade, if this bill passes, it will be the greatest legal or policy measure we could enact as a state to reduce the number of women choosing to abort their babies. Literally tens of thousand of unborn children will be saved as a result of this bill if successful," the group said.
The Florida Senate previously killed, in 2008, an ultrasound bill on a 20-20 vote margin, but elections have given pro-life advocates more votes.
The Florida ultrasound vote comes after Oklahoma legislators approved a new bill there over the veto of Governor Brad Henry. https://www.lifenews.com/state5032.html
In 2006, there were 95,586 abortions performed in Florida.
ACTION: Contact Governor Crist at https://www.flgov.com
Related web sites:
Florida Legislature – https://www.leg.state.fl.us
Florida Right to Life – https://www.frtl.org
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