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Florida State Panel Passes Abortion Clinic Regulations

Florida Capitol Building in Tallahassee. Source: WikiMedia Commons
Florida Capitol Building in Tallahassee. Source: WikiMedia Commons

After a passionate debate, a state House panel on Tuesday passed a wide-ranging bill that would place more regulations on abortion clinics.

The bill would also address issues such as the public funding of women's health care and the sale or donation of fetal tissue.

State Representative Colleen Burton, a Lakeland Republican and the bill sponsor, said it's intended to safeguard women's health.

“While this particular procedure has an emotional component that many others don’t, it is a medical procedure and therefore deserves the same consideration regarding the health of the patient that other procedures get here in the state of Florida,” she said.

However, a dozen young women addressed the committee, urging them not to pass the bill.

And Representative David Richardson, a Miami Beach Democrat, pointed to the fact that Florida has the highest rate of HIV infection in the country.

“We need to be focusing on other issues that will improve the health care of all of the citizens of the state of Florida, rather than taking something like this that creates unreasonable requirements to cut access to something that is absolutely legal,” he said.

The House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee approved the measure on a party-line vote of 9-4.