Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) on Friday signed into law an omnibus antiabortion-rights bill (HB 1411) that imposes several new restrictions on abortion providers, the New York Times reports (Stack, New York Times, 3/25).
The law is scheduled to take effect July 1. However, according to Reuters, the law likely will face a legal challenge in the near future (Cotterell, Reuters, 3/25).
Bill details
The Florida Legislature passed the bill, sponsored by state Rep. Colleen Burton (R), earlier this month.
The law prohibits local health departments from allocating public funds to organizations affiliated with abortion providers, such as Planned Parenthood, for family planning services and other reproductive care for low-income residents. A ban on allocating public funds for abortion care is already in place.
The legislation also requires clinics that offer abortion care beyond the first trimester to have admitting privileges for their physicians at a local hospital and a transfer agreement with a hospital in the area. Clinics that offer abortion care only in the first trimester are required to have one of these two types of agreements.
Further, under the law, any facility that offers abortion-related counseling to a woman has to register with the state unless it counsels a woman to not have an abortion. The law also bans the sale, purchase or donation of fetal tissue resulting from abortion. In addition, the law makes clinic inspection requirements more stringent and redefines gestation and pregnancy trimester dates, which affects when providers can offer abortion care (Women's Health Policy Report, 3/21).
Reaction
Planned Parenthood officials denounced the new law, saying it could cut low-income state residents' access to contraception, cancer screenings and other health care services. According to the organization, many of the roughly 67,000 individuals the organization serves each year in Florida depend on public funds to help cover the cost of their care.
Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said the law appears to be "designed to rip health care away from those most at risk" (New York Times, 3/25).
Laura Goodhue, executive director of the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, also lambasted the law. "For Rick Scott to prioritize political pandering over his own constituents' access to healthcare is more than cynical. It's shameful," Goodhue stated. She said she anticipates increased rates of HIV and unintended pregnancy as a result of women losing access to publicly funded care at Planned Parenthood clinics.
Separately, Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, said Scott "claims to be for small government, pro-freedom and opposed to putting government in between people and their doctors -- except when it comes to Florida's women" (Reuters, 3/25).
