Proposed Florida ‘disability abortion’ ban passes first House hearing

(The Center Square) – Physicians who perform abortions solely because a fetus was diagnosed with a disability could face second- or third-degree felonies under a proposed Florida House-Senate companion bill that would ban “disability abortions.”

“The practice of destroying those that are or may be disabled is detrimental and contrary to our culture and our values,” said Rep. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, after the House Professions & Public Health Subcommittee approved her House Bill 1221 in an 11-7 vote Thursday in its debut hearing less than two weeks into the 60-day 2021 legislation session.

With only two committee stops required by the House’s Republican leadership, the fast-tracked HB 1221 needs only approval from the Health & Human Services to reach the chamber floor.

HB 1221’s Senate companion, Senate Bill 1664, filed by Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez, R-Doral, has been referred to three committees without a hearing.

HB 1221/SB 1664 would prohibit physicians from performing an abortion if they know, “or should know,” a woman’s decision is based on a test result or diagnosis that suggests a disability.

Under the bills, abortions deemed necessary to save a woman’s life are exempt and women who violate the law would not face criminal charges.

But “any person who willfully performs, or actively participates in, a termination of pregnancy in violation of the requirements” of the proposed new law could be charged with second- or third-degree felonies.

Under the bills, the prohibition would apply to “defects, diseases and disorders including but not limited to:” a physical disability, mental or intellectual disability, a physical disfigurement, scoliosis, dwarfism, Down syndrome, Albinism, Amelia and, vaguely, “a physical or mental disease.”

If passed, the law would go into effect July 1 and Florida would join nine other states that have banned “disability abortions.”

In 2013, North Dakota was the first state to prohibit “selective” abortions in cases of fetal abnormality. Indiana, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Louisiana, Ohio, Missouri and Tennessee have since adopted similar bans. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed a 2019 bill in Pennsylvania.

Only the North Dakota and Mississippi laws have not been enjoined pending federal court rulings. There is a permanent federal injunction against Indiana’s law.

Democrats Thursday argued the proposed ban would disproportionally affect minorities.

“As a woman who works in dependency court, I can tell you that black kids are not getting adopted,” said Rep. Michelle Rayner, D-St. Petersburg. “And I can tell you that black kids with disabilities are not getting adopted.”

“This is not about people with disabilities or fetuses with disabilities,” said Rep. Kelly Skidmore, D-Boca Raton. “It’s a cloak that we have wrapped around infringement on a woman’s right to choose, for health care, to choose an abortion.”

But Grall said selective abortions of people judged to be inferior is not health care and could lead to a Pandora’s box of eugenics in determining who is allowed to be born and who isn’t.

“For those of you that feel as strongly as you do that abortion is health care, there are many of us that don’t feel that the killing of a child can ever be health care,” she said, “and we feel just as strongly as you do in your beliefs.”

Grall, who spearheaded the successful 2020 session effort to require parental approval before a minor can legally undergo an abortion, added an amendment to HB 1221 to mandate health care providers test for prenatal genetic disorders and distribute educational information for patients, and also that the state’s Department of Health annually publish “evidenced-based” information about disorders and community resources.

Rep. Sam Killebrew, R-Winter Haven, joined the panel’s six Democrats in voting against HB 1221.

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