Florida Lawmaker Introduces Heartbeat Bill Like Texas Law to Protect the Unborn

[libertybele]

Restrictive abortion bill introduced in Florida mirrors controversial Texas law

A Republican Florida state lawmaker on Wednesday introduced a bill that is modeled after a strict Texas law prohibiting abortions after six weeks, drawing condemnation from supporters of abortion rights who fear such legislation might soon be introduced in other states.
House Bill 167 was filed by Florida state Rep. Webster Barnaby. The bill, like the Texas law, contains a procedural feature that allows private citizens to bring lawsuits against physicians who provide abortions after six weeks as well as any person who "knowingly engages in conduct that aids or abets the performance or inducement of an abortion." The Florida legislation, like the Texas law, also provides for remedies and damages.
Barnaby's introduction of the bill comes weeks after the US Supreme Court allowed Texas' law to go into effect and several days after a doctor in the state -- who publicly claimed that he had violated the ban -- was hit with at least two lawsuits brought against him under the ban. Both lawsuits are brought by plaintiffs who say they oppose the new law, but are eager to get the challenge before a judge.

Notably, the Florida bill allows lawsuits to be brought up to six years after an abortion was performed in violation of the law, whereas supporters of the Texas law say that measure creates a four-year window for bringing suits.

Additionally, the way HB 167 is written makes it extremely difficult to challenge the prohibition until it goes into effect, and even then there are high hurdles.

NARAL Pro-Choice America says it is "horrified to see anti-choice politicians in Florida following in Texas' footsteps."
"There's no question that lawmakers hostile to reproductive freedom in other states will do the same," Adrienne Kimmell, the group's acting president, said in a statement. "The harm of these draconian attacks cannot be overstated and they most acutely impact those who already face the greatest barriers to accessing care."

The group said that lawmakers across 10 states have made clear that they plan to introduce bills similar to Texas' in their own statehouses. Those states are Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota and West Virginia, according to NARAL Pro-Choice America.  ......................

https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/22/politics/florida-abortion-law-six-weeks/index.html

[mystery-ak]

Florida Lawmaker Introduces Heartbeat Bill Like Texas Law to Protect the Unborn

Penny Starr 24 Sep 2021

A Republican lawmaker in Florida has filed a bill that mirrors the new law in Texas that prohibits abortion after a heartbeat can be detected, which commonly occurs at six weeks gestation.

Rep. Webster Barnaby introduced HB 167 in the state House legislature, according to the Florida Politics website:

    Barnaby’s bill, titled the Florida Heartbeat Act, doesn’t have a Senate companion measure yet. However, Senate President Wilton Simpson first said earlier this month that legislative leadership was already looking into a fetal heartbeat bill.

    House Speaker Chris Sprowls similarly told reporters he is supportive of stricter abortion rules but didn’t go as far as to endorse that specific measure. However, Sprowls told reporters Wednesday that he had asked House Judiciary Committee Chairwoman Erin Grall and House Health and Human Services Committee Chairwoman Colleen Burton to review abortion law proposals and to take point on the issue.

     “I have always fought for unborn babies and their right to life, and the Florida House of Representatives has been a national leader in developing pro-life legislation. While other states contend with Federal law only, we must also contend with Article I, Section 23 of the Florida Constitution, as well,” Sprowls said in a statement, referring to the state’s constitutional right to privacy. “Our laws have to be strong enough to jump through multiple levels of judicial scrutiny. We look forward to bringing to the Floor a bill that saves every unborn life possible.”

Barnaby happens to be black and is one of many in the black community who are not only pro-life but who see how the abortion industry disproportionally hurts black women.

Republican Arizona state Rep. Walk Blackman, wrote about that fact in March of last year in a commentary entitled “Abortion: The overlooked tragedy for Black Americans.”

more
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/09/24/florida-lawmaker-introduces-heartbeat-bill-like-texas-law-to-protect-the-unborn/