Gov. Rick Scott’s abortion ban will stand in Florida, due to his recent re-election as governor.
Under the new all abortions will be illegal in Florida at any point in a woman's pregnancy if her doctor determines that the fetus could survive outside the womb, according to the The Big Story. (http://bigstory.ap.org/article/florida-gov-scott-signs-late-term-abortion-bill) The law also takes the psychological effects out of the equation of aborting a fetus.
Florida’s abortion laws have generally been austere by nature. The old law prohibited women from getting an abortion after 24 weeks unless her life was at risk.
The new bill was signed Friday, June 13, 2014 and passed the House 70-45 and the Senate 24-15; becoming effective July 1 of this year.
According to the Guttmacher Institute (GI) (http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/sfaa/florida.html) As of Nov. 1, 2014, women face other restrictions concerning abortion. Health plans under the Affordable Care Act will only cover abortions where a woman’s life is endangered, rape or incest; unless you pay an additional cost. Parents must now be notified of an abortion, when it concerns a minor. Public funding will only be provided if rape, incest or a woman’s mortality is on the line.
Kimberly A Hires, PhD, RN, an Assistant Professor at Florida State University, College of Nursing is opposed to the recent legislation change.
“By legislation limiting a women’s choice, it reduces a women’s role only to her reproduction function. I don’t understand the rationale behind the law change. Why does the government think a woman cannot make a decision about her own reproductive state?”
Phyllis Esposito is president of the Tampa Bay Pro-Life Alliance a Christian based organization, that is dedicated to saving the “preborn” and are in full support of Gov. Scott’s bill.
“When a preborn baby is wanted we call it a baby, but if it isn’t we call it a fetus to distance ourselves from it. The Tampa bay Pro-life Alliance believes all human life has value and deserves to be protected, thus we are in favor of any legislation that reduces abortion in Florida.”
Roe vs. Wade (1973) (http://womenshistory.about.com/od/abortionuslegal/p/roe_v_wade.htm) was a historic Supreme Court decision that allowed women along with her doctor – the choice or terminating a fetus in the early stages of pregnancy.
Simone Mayes, a graduating senior in Pre-Medicine, believes that this legislation impedes on her personal rights as a woman.
“I feel like no man should make a decision about what a women can or cannot do with her body because they [men] will never be put in that same situation. And any type of restrictions or limitations on things about my body that I can make of my own volition, is unwarranted and not within my rights.”
The GI concluded that in 2011, 84, 9000 women had obtained an abortion in Florida. Most of these women range in their 20s. What’s more revealing is that six in 10 American women are already mothers, when they seek abortion. The most likely to receive an abortion are African Americans and Hispanics.
According to Dr. Hires, “Most upper middle class women have abortions; it never gets reported to the agency because they can pay out of pocket and have the procedure done discreetly by a health provider.”
Federally funded clinics such as Planned Parenthood are required by law to report abortions.
The debate on whether or not abortion can emotionally and physically disable a woman is still up for debate.
Esposito goes to say that, “People say we should protect the rights of women, but abortion leaves emotional, physical and/or spiritual scares on women and ends the life of an innocent child.”
Dr. Hires, surprisingly shares similar sentiments to the emotional trauma of abortion: “Choosing to have an abortion is gut retching decision. It’s not an “Oh, I’m going to have an abortion today” – it never works that way. I have had patients that can tell you the exact date of the abortion and how old that child would be at that moment, had they been born. They think about that child for the rest of their lives – it is a constant mourning that goes on.”