TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Florida Senate committee voted Wednesday against including exceptions for rape, incest and human trafficking in a bill that would ban most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
State Sen. Lauren Book, a survivor of sexual assault, proposed the amendment, which she said was needed to prevent further trauma on women and girls.
“We are telling a 15-year-old ... that was raped that she is on the clock,” the Plantation Democrat said.
The Republican-led Health Policy Committee rejected Book’s amendment Wednesday in a voice vote so there is no record of how each member voted. The 15-week abortion ban then advanced on a 6-4 party-line vote, with all Republicans in favor and all Democrats voting no.
State Sen. Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, said victims of rape, incest and human trafficking would still be able to get an abortion during the first 15 weeks of pregnancy if the bill passes. Abortion is presently legal up to the 24th week in Florida.
“This is not an all-out ban,” said Stargel, the bill’s sponsor.
Stargel’s proposal includes exceptions if two doctors certify a “fatal fetal abnormality” has been detected. It also would allow an abortion to be performed if it is deemed “necessary to save the pregnant woman’s life or avert a serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman other than a psychological condition.”
Book, the Democratic leader in the Senate, was sexually abused by a nanny when she was a child and has made sexual assault a top issue.
The hearing featured emotional testimony on both sides of the issue. An Orlando woman testified she was raped and impregnated as a young woman in St. Petersburg. She urged lawmakers to “end trauma after rape and incest.”
Doctors with Planned Parenthood told senators serious medical conditions could arise after 15 weeks of pregnancy, and women would not be able to have an abortion. Nonfatal fetal abnormalities could also occur.
Dr. Samantha Deans, an associate medical director with Planned Parenthood, shared the story of an 11-year-old girl who was raped and impregnated by a family member and wasn’t able to see a doctor until the 23rd week of pregnancy.
More than 500 Florida doctors signed a letter to lawmakers opposing the ban.
Anti-abortion supporters urged lawmakers not to carve out an exception for rape.
“It is the man, the perpetrator, that is the guilty one — not the innocent child,” said Aaron DiPietro, a representative of the Florida Family Policy Council. “Our system of justice has established we are to punish the perpetrators — not those who are the innocent victims in that situation.”
Nearly 95% of the 74,756 abortions in Florida in 2021 occurred during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, according to state statistics. Of the abortions performed later in pregnancy, 14 were because of rape and three were because of incest, according to state records.
Republicans on the Health Policy Committee are Sens. Manny Diaz, Jason Brodeur, Ben Albritton, Dennis Baxley, Aaron Bean and Ileana Garcia.
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