Minors need parental permission to abort, says FL House

TALLAHASSEE

A controversial bill passed Wednesday by the Florida House could require minors to obtain the consent of their parents or guardians before they can abort, although the bill has not yet lifted several obstacles in the Senate to be able to passed during the last weeks of the session.

Legislators of the house, after 3 hours and a half animated debate tinged with personal anecdotes and references to the Bible, voted for the bill 69-44 largely along the party lines. The legislation would add to the existing obligation that minors inform their parents or guardians before an abortion or obtain a judicial derogation allowing them to circumvent the obligation.

Critics have said HB 1335, which is the most important change the House has heard in the Abortion Act during this session, is an attempt to restart a judicial fight before a more conservative Supreme Court, formed by Governor Ron DeSantis. But advocates have formulated the bill, along with a few other bills that broaden "parental rights," with the goal of strengthening families and ensuring that abortions are done in a safer way.

"I think the parent needs to be involved in the child's decision-making," said sponsor Rep. Erin Grall of R-Vero Beach on Wednesday to fellow lawmakers.

The legislation would require that physicians obtain the consent of their parents or guardian before performing an abortion on a minor and oblige them to comply with the requirements to inform them of the procedure. In some extenuating circumstances, juveniles may seek a waiver from a court instead of obtaining their consent.

These exceptions would include cases where the evidence shows that minors are likely to be the victims of child abuse or sexual violence from a parent or guardian, or from A judge who decides otherwise than it is in their best interest. The bill would also allow for derogations if judges find "clear and convincing evidence" that a minor is mature enough to decide to have an abortion.

For minors who go to court to request a waiver, the bill also sets standards for lawyers. In addition, not caring for an infant born alive during an abortion is punishable as a third-degree crime, rather than currently qualifying it as a first-degree offense.

Currently in Florida, state law requires that a parent or guardian be notified if a minor wishes an abortion. The law provides for exceptions in cases such as medical emergencies and also allows minors to obtain a judicial waiver if they are already parents or they fall under the same regime.

Of about 70,000 abortions performed in the state each year, about 1,500 are practiced on minors.

The issue of parental notification and consent around abortion has had a difficult history. A law that required parental consent had been overturned by the State Supreme Court in 1989, and state courts had repeatedly stated that a general constitutional right to privacy applied to pregnancy. a woman's. The courts also overturned a law requiring parental notification in 2003, although the 2004 voters had authorized a constitutional amendment creating a similar new law.

Since then, the legislature has struggled with abortion legislation almost every year, with limited results. In 2015, the legislature passed a law that would impose a waiting period of 24 hours before abortions, although this law is almost immediately ensnared in a series of court decisions and appeals.

But the changing judicial environment of recent months, with the appointment of three new Conservative judges at the highest state court, has spoiled this year's discussion of the parental consent bill. Some advocates of choice and life have suggested that the bill creates a legal challenge to a more conservative audience, although Grall, the sponsor, During several committee hearings, he categorically rejected the idea that the bill was supposed to overturn the judicial precedent.

Wednesday at home Democratic lawmakers told Grall of several concerns, including the constitutionality of the legislation and how the judicial waiver process might or might not take into account minors seeking to avail themselves of the process.

When representative Cindy Polo, D-Miramar, asked Grall if she had spoken to advisers or workers involved in the judicial waiver process – citing a Texas rights group that heard Florida miners asking to Help – Grall admitted that she did not do it. But she said that resources to understand the process are available online.

Democrats, including representatives Evan Jenne of Dania Beach and Fentrice Driskell of Tampa, also insisted on the constitutional right to privacy contained in the state law previously invoked to overturn earlier efforts aimed at to limit abortion.

But Grall argued that this right to privacy had limits: "The minor has the right to privacy but it is not absolute."

As the debate continued, legislators also turned to more and more personal stories in the House. Representative Kimberly Daniels of Jacksonville, the only Democrat to vote for the bill, recounted her own experience with abortion when she was a minor, citing this as a reason for her support.

The other Democrats, still a minority in the House, had no chance of stopping the bill without Republican deputies. Republicans also rejected an amendment tabled by D-Orlando's representative Anna Eskamani, who would have forced the State Court Office's administrator to develop and publish information on how to "get rid of it." obtain a waiver.

Before the bill was passed, some Democrats – including Eskamani, who previously worked with Planned Parenthood – lamented the polarized rhetoric and the political "boxes" that they suggested did not allow any compromise on the issue.

"Nobody likes abortion, but we have another bill in which, no matter how long the debate, we all know what the outcome will be," said Representative Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando. "What have we done to prevent young women in the state from having unwanted pregnancies?"

Pro-choice groups criticized the passage of the law after legislators voted Wednesday night.

"The major health organizations and health professionals are opposed to these laws for a good reason. They make young people less secure and more likely to face a difficult decision alone and scared, "said Laura Goodhue, executive director of the Florida Affiliates Alliance of Family Planning. "It's important to recognize that parental consent laws in no way guarantee that a young person will communicate with their parents or guardian before the abortion. All laws on forced parental consent pose an even greater risk to youth at risk. "

The bill is now heading to the Florida Senate, where his mate in this room, SB 1774, sponsored by Senator Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, passed its first committee judgment earlier this month. The Senate measure also differs by adding to the existing law instead of rewriting it, which some argue might require minors to seek twice a judicial waiver – one for the existing notice requirement and one for the other. proposed consent obligation. The Senate version also lacks the increased punishment for violating the law of the "born alive" state.

But this bill still has two committees on hold before it can be considered by the full Senate. The Judiciary Committee, where it was to be heard afterwards, ceased work in early April and has no more scheduled appointments. Other committees have largely ended their operations while lawmakers have agreed to agree on the state budget.

The rules could still be overridden to bring the bill to the ground, but if it were to expire, it would adhere to a handful of other proposals in this year's legislative session aimed at restricting abortion. but failed to gain ground. Two sets of invoices, HB 235 / SB 792 and HB 1345 / SB 558, would have limited the procedure to detection of fetal heart rate or 20 weeks, respectively.

The legislative session ends on May 3rd.