The Florida State House approved a ban on abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy Thursday morning, adding to the list of Republican-led states that have modeled legislation after the Mississippi law that has been challenged and is now awaiting a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.
HB 5, titled “Reducing Fetal and Infant Mortality,” which prohibits physicians from performing abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, passed the Florida House by a vote of 78-39, following hours of debate.
“There’s significant fetal development by the age of 15 weeks,” State Representative Erin Grall (R-Vero Beach), who sponsored the bill, said, reported Orlando Weekly.
“But there is also a case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, currently under consideration, at 15 weeks. And … working within that infrastructure of 15 weeks gives Florida its best opportunity to save a significant number of babies, very quickly, after the court’s decision,” she added.
The report noted, however, that Representative Kelly Skidmore (D-Boca Raton), countered that unborn babies cannot feel pain at 15 weeks.
“I don’t believe a 15-week fetus can feel pain or anything else, because I believe the volume of experts who tell us that happens beyond 24 weeks’ gestation,” Skidmore said.
Other Democrats claimed the legislation is unconstitutional.
“Legislating unpopular and unconstitutional bans on abortion is an irresponsible diversion from real life,” State Representative Yvonne Hinson (D-Gainesville) said, according to the report.
Abortion industry leader Planned Parenthood weighed in as well on Twitter, continuing its narrative that abortion is “healthcare.”
While Florida’s bill contains exceptions for abortions if necessary to save the life of the mother, to “avert a serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman other than a psychological condition,” or if two physicians certify the unborn baby has a “fatal fetal abnormality,” the measure does not contain exceptions for rape or incest.
Orlando Weekly reported on the statement by State Representative Dana Trabulsy (R-Fort Pierce), who revealed she had been a victim of rape in the past and had an abortion, which she now regrets:
I was always pro-life, until I had a choice. And then I had a choice, and I selfishly made the choice to have an abortion. Not because something was wrong with my baby, not for any other reason than it just wasn’t convenient for me. It didn’t fit my narrative, it didn’t fit my lifestyle. I didn’t want a baby, so I had an abortion. It’s something that I have regretted every day since.
The bill now heads to the Florida State Senate for consideration.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) has indicated his support for the measure.
In June, during an interview with the Daily Caller, DeSantis commented on his view of the character of people who do not support the pro-life cause.
“The people that aren’t supportive of the life cause, they’re not people you want to be in a foxhole with on any other political battle,” the governor said. “They are the first ones who will sell out to the D.C. establishment when the going gets tough.”
Florida currently allows abortions up to 24 weeks of pregnancy.
Republican lawmakers in Arizona and West Virginia also advanced 15-week abortion bans this week, mirroring the Mississippi law that is the focus of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case that poses the most significant challenge in decades to the right to abortion created by the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade.
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Susan Berry, PhD, is national education editor at The Star News Network. Email tips to sberryphd@protonmail.com.
Republished with permission from The Star News Network.
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@MIB There was a story just this week of an underweight baby (11.5 ounces) being born after 24 weeks.
https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/micro-preemie-11-5-ounces-first-birthday
She just reached her first birthday!!
Ah, I’ve seen this before: the “women enslavers” vs. the “murderers of babies”.
Why not aim for neither? Remove the baby. Keep it alive. Adopt. (Not as though we don’t have hundreds of thousands of orphans needing to be adopted, and ever-worsening over-crowding & soaring land prices, as it is. But still, all humans are created equal.)
In the last decade, several babies have survived birth after only 18-24 weeks of gestation (compared with the “normal” term of 39-42 weeks) to become healthy children. Not many, yet, but a few. The 2+ year old girl at a Trump, SOTU, born in Kansas City, and a boy born in Alabama come to mind.
http://www.kermitrose.com/jgo/Econ/News/2021/econ202112week4.html#20211219
The old “first trimester” rule of thumb was 13.3 weeks. 15 weeks is a reasonable dividing line for what is medically/technologically possible for now.
Whether he knows it or not, Representative Kelly Skidmore’s, counter that “unborn babies cannot feel pain at 15 weeks” is an endorsement of the policy.
Note that he called it a “baby” and not a “fetus”.
And while “feeling pain” isn’t necessarily a scientific marker for determining life, any group or any one that argues against capital punishment because the offender might feel pain or discomfort can only be consistent by being against abortion once the innocent are able to feel pain, too.
The main reason most women Murder their unborn Babies: “it just wasn’t convenient for me. It didn’t fit my narrative”. Women have so many choices to help them NOT get Pregnant INCLUDING a “Morning After Pill”. So sad,
@ Bruce… you need to lay off the meth and CNN dude… you’ll thank me later.
Remember; It takes a lot of Faith to be an atheist.
God Loves You
LOL, you religious fanatics are just too funny. Quoting Bible verses at me, priceless.
Although I seriously hope those who say they’ll pray for me actually do so. That’s time better spent than praying to your imaginary deity to start WW3 so that Jesus will return. Time still wasted though, but please don’t stop. Keep the entertainment coming.
@ Bruce your boss “Bruceafer” wants you to clock in and post more leftist propaganda. It’s not working on God’s people.
@ Bruce… I shall pray for your angry, dark, and damaged heart.
And always remember; God loves you too
“But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.” (Romans 1:18-20 NLT)
“Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.
“But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.
“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.
“Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.” (Romans 3:19-28 NLT)
“Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.
“But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.
“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (Ephesians 2:1-10 NLT)
Jude1:22
And have mercy on those who doubt
Women’s bodies, women’s choices. Keep big government out of them.
Oh and newsflash to all you religious right loons, god doesn’t exist, never has and never will. Ain’t no one smiting no one for having an abortion.
Anyone who believes the Bible is an idiot, but don’t spend your time wasted on responding to me. You have the rapture to look forward to. Better prepare!
The idiot voters in Boca Raton elected an idiot Representative Skidmore who just endorsed the killing of a 15 week old baby if the baby can’t feel any pain. Idiots.
This is great news! Congratulations to House Republicans for doing the right thing. I hope the Senate Republicans and Governor stand strong as well.
I’m glad to see that the Matlow, Porter and Dailey Resolution Supporting Abortion has not, so far, had the intended effect on State lawmakers.
Rusty, you are right. We do not have the right to take innocent life.
Just because a human was conceived against the will of one parent does not make them any less human. Just because a human has a higher chance of birth defects because they were conceived by a too-closely-related couple does not make them any less human. Both are created in the same image of God as those conceived outside of rape and incest and deserve equal protection against murder.
Glad to hear. If a Woman can’t figure out she is Pregnant after 3 MONTHS, she should NEVER be allowed to have Babies.
Amazing how those who profess their commitment to “science” refuse to accept the “science” of life or gender.
Like I always say; No Matter how you arrange the letters D E M O C R A T… it will always spell HYPOCRITE
That said… IMO… the Senate should work in the rape and incest exception.