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Senate president says he's not for fetal guardian law

Associated Press
Published January 28, 2004

TALLAHASSEE - Senate President Jim King said Tuesday he would be "very reluctant" to consider a law that would let guardians be appointed for fetuses whose mothers are incapacitated.

King, R-Jacksonville, spoke a day after an aide to Gov. Jeb Bush said Bush wants the law changed so that in cases where a mother can't make decisions, a guardian could be appointed for the fetus.

But King said while speaking to a gathering of newspaper editors that the Senate was unlikely to take it up. "I think the courts already decided on that," he said.

King later qualified his answer, saying: "I didn't rule it out. I would be a very reluctant participant."

Courts last year rejected attempts to have a guardian named for the fetus of a disabled woman.

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