In 2011, the number was down slightly to 76,766, with about 70,700 performed during the first 12 weeks, according to the Agency for Health Care Administration. Four clinics have not yet reported their data.
A third proposal attempts to prevent race- or -selective abortions, an issue that has generated controversy in countries such as China and India, where researchers have noted preferences for sons over daughters, according to a staff analysis.
Democrats opposing the bill cite studies concluding that a fetus is not capable of feeling pain until closer to 29 weeks.
There is precedent. Oklahoma, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Arizona prohibit -selective abortions, and Arizona also prohibits abortions based on race.
A bill sponsored by Rep. Rachel Burgin, R-Riverview, includes a requirement that abortion clinics licensed after July 1 be owned and operated by a physician or physicians trained in the procedure during their residency.
Conservative Florida lawmakers who last year passed a bill that requires women seeking an abortion to first have an ultrasound performed are pushing to go further in 2012.
&x201C;Other doctors are not in the business of killing human life,&x201D; countered Rep. Charles Van Zant, R-Keystone Heights, who was recognized by the Christian Coalition of Florida in 2009 with its Faith and Family Award.
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&x201C;There&x2019;s absolutely no medical reason that a health center needs to be owned by a physician or a group,&x201D; said Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Takeata King.
It forces doctors to sign statements that an abortion is not being sought for either of those reasons. They could be fined up to $10,000 for iling to report these cases.
Legislators in 2011 spent several days in bitter debate over a slew of abortion bills, four of which were signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott. Besides the ultrasound requirement, legislators toughened parental notification law for minors, prohibited insurance policies created through the federal healthcare law from covering abortions and redirected proceeds from &x201C;Choose Life&x201D; license plates to CFlorida lawmakers push again to restrict abortions health clinicshoose Life, Inc., which counsels pregnant women.
A committee hearing this past week attracted two-dozen Florida A&M and Florida State University students testifying on the side of Planned Parenthood and, on the other side, a group of about 40 people from the River at Tampa Bay Church. Women described carrying their pregnancies to term despite having been very young at the time and receiving warnings from doctors of health risks.
Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood, named HB 1327 the &x201C;Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass Prenatal Nondiscrimination and Equal Opportunity for Life Act.&x201D;
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A bill sponsored by Rep. Daniel Davis, R-Jacksonville, would ban most abortions after 20 weeks. Current law outlaws abortions after 24 weeks.
&x201C;I appreciate bills that are just straight-up trying to stand in the way of a woman&x2019;s ability to seek healthcare or get an abortion. I actually appreciate those,&x201D; said Rep. Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach. &x201C;This is perhaps one of the most disingenuous pieces of legislation I&x2019;ve ever seen.&x201D;
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Burgin&x2019;s bill, HB 277, would require a woman to complete a consent form at least 24 hours before the procedure, which would serve as a waiting period and trigger an additional visit to a hospital or clinic.
The measure, HB 839, passed through a House committee along party lines this past week. Davis said it would protect &x201C;arguably the frailest members of our society from feeling pain,&x201D; citing research that said a fetus reacts to certain stimuli with a recoil response between 20 and 24 weeks. &x201C;We are a civil society, and we need to act like one,&x201D; he said.
&x201C;The only way to make sure that this barbaric practice doesn&x2019;t continue is to do the best we can to pass a law like this to catch at least some of the instances where this may be happening,&x201D; Plakon said.
Among the ideas advancing: a ban on some second trimester abortions in the state, a 24-hour waiting period for abortions and a measure that forces doctors to sign affidavits that the abortion is not motivated by the race or of the fetus.
HB 1327/SB1702: Requires doctors to sign affidavits swearing the abortion is not being performed because of the race or gender of the fetus.
&x201C;I don&x2019;t think that killing these children should be convenient,&x201D; Rep. Mike Horner, R-Kissimmee, said flatly.
And the bill would require physicians who perform abortions to complete a three-hour ethics course each year.
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Democrats and abortion-rights groups say there is no evidence abortions for race or gender reasons are prevalent either in Florida or in the country at-large.
Current clinics would be exempt, but Planned Parenthood, a nonprofit governed by a board of directors, and similar groups not owned by doctors would not be able to move locations or open new centers.
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Last year, Florida lawmakers imposed an ultrasound requirement. This year new restrictions appear to be on track.
Florida lawmakers push again to restrict abortions health clinics,HB 277/SB 290: Places new regulations on doctors who perform abortions and the clinics that provide them. Physicians who perform the procedure would have to take ethics training, and women would have to wait 24 hours for the procedure after giving informed consent. New clinics would have to be wholly owned and operated by a doctor or doctors.
&x201C;I think we came here to do hard things,&x201D; said Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, midway through the emotional debate.
HB 839: Prevents abortions in most cases after 20 weeks.
It&x2019;s unclear whether the policies, in effect since July 1, have influenced the number of abortions performed in the state. In 2010, 79,908 abortions were reported to the state, with nearly 74,000 occurring during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
