A couple of years ago Chan Lowe with the Sun Sentinel said it quite well in pictorial form.
With all the serious problems this state has, the Republican-dominated legislature always manages to find the time to address this subject in an election year. Gay marriage, in recent years, has become another reliable vote-getter. It's one of those amazing natural phenomena that the fate of the unborn and the sanctity of heterosexual marriage never seem to be under threat in years that end with odd numbers.
From the Sun Sentinel
One of our most religious Republican state senators took pride that he was going to make a woman's private decision a matter for scrutiny. His words in the Florida Baptist Witness were shocking to me.
Senate panel approves ultrasound abortion bill
Sponsored by Sen. Daniel Webster (R-Winter Garden), a member of First Baptist Church of Central Florida in Orlando, a similar bill, HB 257, was approved by the Florida House of Representatives on April 2.
“Now, if you’re afraid of the facts or afraid of the truth than you’re going to hide that. I don’t want to hide it; I want it to be available,” Webster said of ultrasounds that vividly show the growing life in the womb.
Noting that Florida’s informed consent law already requires ultrasounds be performed on pregnant women and girls seeking abortions in the second and third trimester, Webster rhetorically asked, “what’s the difference between the last six months and the first three? It’s just a matter of where that fetus in the development is. And this is an opportunity to see first hand. … This is better information than a piece of paper.”
But wait until you hear what this bunch wants to require doctors to sign. They are working on it now in the state legislature.
Florida lawmakers push again to restrict abortions
Please note that they are again going after Planned Parenthood in a most creative way. They do not give up.
TALLAHASSEE -- Conservative Florida lawmakers who last year passed a bill that requires women seeking an abortion to first have an ultrasound performed are pushing to go further in 2012.
Among the ideas advancing: a ban on some second trimester abortions in the state, a 24-hour waiting period for abortions and a measure that forces doctors to sign affidavits that the abortion is not motivated by the race or sex of the fetus.
“I don’t think that killing these children should be convenient,” Rep. Mike Horner, R-Kissimmee, said flatly.
A bill sponsored by Rep. Rachel Burgin, R-Riverview, includes a requirement that abortion clinics licensed after July 1 be owned and operated by a physician or physicians trained in the procedure during their residency.
Current clinics would be exempt, but Planned Parenthood, a nonprofit governed by a board of directors, and similar groups not owned by doctors would not be able to move locations or open new centers.
“There’s absolutely no medical reason that a health center needs to be owned by a physician or a group,” said Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Takeata King.
Who in the world thought this one up? Forcing doctors to sign a paper that the abortion is not racially motivated or about the sex of the fetus. That is unbelievable to pass a law like this in this country.
This is one issue that the religious right wing is pursuing ruthlessly, and our side is going to have to be strong against it.
Quite frankly the "bipartisan" tone is not going to work on saving the rights of women.