Minors seeking an abortion will now have to get their parents' approval.
The Florida House of Representatives on Thursday passed a contentious bill that will require parental consent before minors could have abortions.
The bill passed by a vote of 75-43. The Senate passed the bill earlier this month, and it now awaits the signature of Gov. Ron DeSantis, who urged passage during his State of the State address.
The victory comes after tense debates the day before and 14 amendments from Democrats that were each shot down, according to News Service of Florida.
"We can't imagine what people have been through having not walked in their shoes," said Rep. Fentrice Driskell, D-Tampa, during debate on the House floor. "Once again, that is where the Constitution has to be the referee."
Rep. Kimberly Daniels, D-Jacksonville, co-sponsor of bill, said the bill is more about parental consent, not abortion. Daniels said she received an abortion at 15 years old and her experience "forced [her] to support this legislation."
"Having an abortion without your mother at 15 is nothing to play with," she said. "What I see is everytime folks don't agree, it becomes unconstitutional. Parents must be on the frontlines."
Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, another co-sponsor, said during her closing argument that the decision helps put the power to the parent who is the "only one who has the best interest of their child."
After the bill passed, the Florida House Majority Office tweeted:
Families and life WIN! The Florida House has voted to put families FIRST with the passage of SB 404, which includes parents in the decision-making process if their minor daughter wants an abortion. Parental consent is headed to the Governor! pic.twitter.com/Fh5hMcrsRl— FL GOP Majority (@FLGOPMajority) February 20, 2020
Florida law requires parents to be notified before minors can have abortions, but a parental-consent requirement would be more restrictive, News Service of Florida reported.
Physicians who perform abortions on minors without parental consent would face third-degree felony charges.
Consent would not be required if a minor goes through the judicial bypass process or during medical emergencies where there is insufficient time to gain consent.
As debates continued on the floor Thursday afternoon, local groups spoke out against the passage of the bill in front of Rep. Jackie Toledo's office in Tampa.
Ellie Levesque, president of Planned Parenthood Generation Action's USF chapter, said the bill was unnecessary.
"They're already involving their parents in this discussion," said Levesque, a USF junior interdisciplinary sciences major. "If they aren't, then it's for good reason because they're in an unsafe situation."
Progress Florida, a nonprofit organization advocating progressive policies, organized the news conference.
"It is unbelievable to me that the legislature has once again shown that it's so out of sync with what the majority of Floridians want," said Amy Weintraub, the reproductive rights program director for the group. "We need more access to healthcare, not less, and it's just ridiculous what they've done."
Weintraub said Progress Florida and its national and state partners are ready to sue and take the issue to the state's Supreme Court.
"They say this bill is about teen health or family communication, it's not," she said. "It's a Trojan horse of a bill and they want us to take it to the Supreme Court to see if the newly conservative court will see it as unconstitutional and that'll open the door to a whole bunch of other anti-abortion legislation that will work toward making it illegal in our state.
"Their goal is to overturn Florida's version of Roe v. Wade," Weintraub said.
This is a continuing story. Stay with wusfnews.org for updates.
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