As an anti-abortion bill moves through the Legislature, it’s becoming clear that Florida lawmakers are all too willing to play politics with the bodies of vulnerable women.
Even women who have been sold into sexual slavery. Even women who have been raped.
Even underaged girls whose futures will be warped and diminished if they are forced to carry a child to term. Even girls who can’t defend themselves against predators in their own families.
The message is calculated. It’s deceptive in its attempt to redefine basic biology. And despite the pall of fear it casts across women’s reproductive freedom, it probably won’t do much to lower the number of so-called “elective” abortions in Florida.
What, exactly, are lawmakers trying to accomplish?
That’s a question all Floridians should be asking as they consider the real-world implications of this legislation. They won’t like the answers, and they should let lawmakers know they see through the calculated cruelty of this ploy.
Start with statements by the legislation’s backers. After the Senate Health Policy Committee refused on Wednesday to amend the legislation to exclude victims of rape, incest and human trafficking, sponsor Sen. Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, said 15 weeks was sufficient for victims of horrific sexual crimes to terminate their pregnancies. That’s completely out of touch with reality: Girls and women who are targets of sexual violence — particularly long-term molestation or human trafficking — are the most likely to face difficulty in getting access to abortion services.
Meanwhile, Aaron DiPietro, a representative of the Florida Family Policy Council, said it was fine to deny abortion to victims of rape because it’s the rapist who is the guilty party, not the “innocent child.” His careful omission of rape victims’ innocence conveys the taint of victim-blaming.
Things are even more difficult for girls under the age of 18, who must get permission from their parents or seek approval from a judge before terminating a pregnancy. For a real-world view of how that’s playing out, consider the injustice visited on a 17-year-old Tampa girl who was told by a judge last month that she wasn’t intelligent enough to make decisions about her own body — citing her 2.0 GPA. An appellate court overturned that decision this week, finding that the trial judge had abused his discretion and more than once misrepresented the girl’s own testimony.
Finally, there are the burdens Florida law already places on abortions, including the requirement that women view an ultrasound and receive state-directed “counseling” aimed at persuading them not to abort.
All that takes time. And under the bill approved Wednesday, the clock will be ticking — even faster than lawmakers will admit, because the bill (SB 146) also redefines the start of pregnancy to the first day of a woman’s last menstrual period, even though conception usually occurs a few weeks later. That’s assuming women have regular, predictable cycles — but very young girls, and women who are under high stress, often don’t.
That’s what happens when lawmakers try to impose governmental oversight on biological reality, says Dr. Shelly Holmstrom, a Tampa obstetrician who is also a professor at the University of South Florida medical school. “I see women in really terrible situations,” she says. “They have little to no access to health care. Some of them don’t even know they are pregnant.”
Here’s the vicious kicker: As punitive as this bill is toward vulnerable women and girls, it won’t stop the vast number of abortions in Florida. State records show that nearly 95 percent of abortions take place before the 12-week mark.
There are a few escape hatches in the bill — and in the nearly identical House version, which is also moving briskly toward passage. If two doctors certify “fatal fetal abnormalities,” or find that continuing the pregnancy would endanger a woman’s life or create significant health problems, later terminations would be possible. But those exemptions could exclude many situations where continuing a pregnancy would present a lifelong hardship or significant health impacts.
Wednesday’s vote makes it clear: Lawmakers want to claim victory on an issue that’s a far-right priority, even if it means they must trample the most desperate, the youngest, the most victimized. It’s a heartless, deceptive ploy, and Floridians should let legislators know they see through it.
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