TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A controversial bill that would shorten the time period for a woman to have an abortion in Florida cleared its first committee on Wednesday.
The legislation is House Bill 5, its low number indicative of its importance to the House leadership.
The legislation would shave nine weeks off a woman’s right to legally abort.
“I think 15 weeks is plenty of time for a woman to know she is pregnant,” said state Sen. Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, Senate sponsor.
The 15 weeks was chosen because a similar Mississippi statute is already awaiting validation or rejection by the U.S. Supreme Court. Stargel said it also makes sense from the fetus’s development.
“I think recognizing that this is a baby, and at 15 weeks, those babies have eyelashes, eyebrows and fingers and all of those types of things. We want to make sure that if someone is going to make a determination, they make it early on, not later,” Stargel said.
Tampa obstetrician Dr. Haywood Brown said that while most women will know they are pregnant at 15 weeks, others will not.
“We still have a lot of women who do not seek care in the first trimester, so there’s a lot of denial,” Brown said.
Dozens of speakers were given just 30 seconds to make their case.
“Life doesn’t begin at 15 weeks. It begins at conception,” one speaker said.
Another speaker said: “This bill is a blatant attack on Floridians’ bodily autonomy.”
Wednesday’s hearing was the first of five. There will be two more in the House, and two in the Senate.
State Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, calls the quick scheduling of the bill in lawmakers second week:
“Florida Republicans are fast-tracking this anti-abortion bill,” Eskamani said.
She also knows she and fellow Democrats are outnumbered
“We can expect this bill to get to the House Floor. We’re going to do everything we can to amplify public opinion,” Eskamani said.
The first committee approved the legislation on a party-line vote.
The legislation also requires abortion providers’ monthly reports to include information about any pregnancy that occurred as a result of human trafficking.