Parental consent for abortion heads to Senate floor

by | Jan 22, 2020

Pro-life advocates received a major victory on Wednesday, with Senator Kelli Stargel‘s parental consent for abortion bill being approved in its final committee, advancing to the Senate floor.

The bill (SB 404) would prevent a physician from performing an abortion on a minor unless the physician received consent from the minor’s parents or guardian. The measure passed in the Senate Rules Committee with a 9-7 vote.

Today’s passage marks the 47th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

Following the vote, Senate President Bill Galvano applauded the conservative bill.

“Today, as we mark the 47th anniversary of the legalization of abortion, I am pleased to see the Senate send such a strong statement of support for protecting innocent human life,” Galvano said on Twitter.

The committee adopted a few changes before moving the legislation to the floor — including raising the penalty for aborting infants born alive from a first-degree misdemeanor to a third-degree felony and adopting to hold the judicial review process in a judge’s chamber.

A similar bill (HB 265) has been introduced in the House by Representative Erin Grall.

After failing to move any anti-abortion bills in 2019, conservatives in Florida get a much needed win in the area of the unborn. While the parental consent bills have a good chance to pass in both chambers, officials still have to decide if they will move forward on another pro-life bill (HB 271) that would ban abortions if a fetal heartbeat is detected, effectively banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.

Pundits, however, believe the heartbeat bill will remain in political purgatory in 2020.

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