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Bills target abortion clinics

Abortion politics have heated up in Tallahassee, where lawmakers are attempting to limit access to abortion services. One legislative proposal would use neutral-sounding health regulations to discourage abortion clinics from performing second-trimester abortions. Another bill would force pregnant girls younger than 16 to tell a parent they are planning to have an abortion - even when they are victims of incest.

Last week, the House passed the so-called Women's Health and Safety Act, HB 1041, sponsored by Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fernandina Beach. The Senate version, SB 1862, sponsored by Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, also is moving along. The measures target about half of Florida's 60 or so abortion clinics that perform second-trimester abortions in an effort to make those abortions too onerous and expensive to perform. This would leave many women without a viable alternative, because going to a hospital would substantially increase the procedure's cost.

The bills outline detailed requirements for those clinics, including their physical facilities, supplies, equipment, staff training, paperwork and postprocedure follow-up. They are rules clearly written by bureaucrats, not health professionals. Stephanie Grutman, executive director of the Florida Association of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, points out that one of the regulations would have clinics perform a post-operative urine pregnancy test within a time frame that would guarantee the test would be positive, since certain hormones would still be present.

The sponsors claim the rules are needed to improve safety, but there is no indication safety is a problem. More than 91,000 abortions took place last year in Florida, yet over the last 10 years there have been fewer than 75 complaints logged with the state against clinics. Only four of those were deemed valid.

As Rep. Nancy Detert, a Venice Republican charged, if the Legislature really wanted to protect women's health it would address plastic surgery centers, not abortion clinics. "We actually have people dying from plastic surgery breast augmentation with the wrong anesthetics," Detert said during a floor debate. "Your bill targets one particular industry."

In the debate over how to implement a parental notice requirement for a minor's abortion, the House is moving in an unconstitutional direction. The U.S. Supreme Court has permitted states to require parental notice as long as girls have the option of going to court to prove they were mature enough to make that choice without parental involvement. Under the House proposal, HB 1659, only girls 16 and older would have a judicial bypass option. That means younger girls, including those who are victims of sexual abuse by their fathers, would have no choice but to inform a parent if they want an abortion. The Senate version of parental notice, while not perfect, takes a far more compassionate approach.

These proposals will reinforce the antiabortion credentials of the Republican majority in Tallahassee. But the legislation would be devastating to reproductive health options in the state and likely result in lawsuits the state could lose.

[Last modified April 19, 2005, 01:19:14]