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Florida Legislature 2005 (click for ongoing coverage)

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House backs tighter rules for abortion clinics

It's a safety issue, say proponents. It's an attack on women's rights, charges the losing side of an 82-27 vote.

TALLAHASSEE - The Florida House voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to tighten regulation of clinics that perform second-trimester abortions, with supporters citing safety as the goal.

Opponents said the intent was to erode the constitutional right to abortion and warned the measure could drive women into illegal and unsafe abortions.

The 82-27 vote, largely along party lines, sent the legislation (HB 1041) to the Senate, where a similar bill (SB 1862) has cleared one committee and is pending in a second.

Gov. Jeb Bush supports the measures, spokesman Russell Schweiss said.

The bills order creation of an array of regulations for abortion clinics, from rules about sterilizing equipment and training of employees to requirements on care after abortion. The actual regulations would be written by the state Agency for Health Care Administration.

Florida has about 60 abortion clinics, which are state-licensed and inspected annually. Past attempts by the state to impose detailed regulations have been blocked by federal courts, which said they violated women's privacy rights.

However, past regulations covered both first- and second-trimester abortions; the bills now under consideration focus on second-trimester abortions. Courts have said states have greater leeway to regulate those.

Of nearly 90,000 abortions performed in 2003 in Florida, fewer than 8,800 were second-trimester abortions.

Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fernandina Beach, sponsored the legislation in the House for the fourth year.

"Our purpose ... is not to limit anyone's right to choose to terminate their pregnancy," he said. "What it is: If they chose to terminate their pregnancy they're going to have alternatives that are safe."

But Mona Reis, director of a West Palm Beach abortion clinic for more than two decades, said the legislation could force abortion providers to close their doors or raise prices. She said the motivation for the bill was not women's health but antiabortion politics.

Rep. Mary Brandenburg, D-West Palm Beach, said the bill was "simply hassling" women who want abortions.

Some Democrats said it would lead to more women getting illegal, dangerous abortions.

But Sheila Hopkins, who represents Florida's Catholic bishops in the Capitol, said greater awareness of the safety problem, not politics, gave the bill momentum this year.

Hopkins said clinics are "very unregulated" and there have been complaints about conditions.

"This is not about women's rights, this is about women's health," said Rep. D. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla. "A vote against this bill is a vote in favor of allowing abortions to be done in an environment that is no better than the dreaded alleyway abortion."

[Last modified April 15, 2005, 19:34:46]