On Thursday, Florida’s legislature passed a state bill to require pregnant minors (pregnant people under the age of 18) to receive consent from a parent or guardian in order to access an abortion, as reported by CNN. Senate Bill 404 will move to the conservative governor, Republican Ron DeSantis. The Florida state House approved the restrictive, anti-choice bill 75-43.
Here’s how the bill works. Physicians would need to receive written consent via a notarized document from a parent or guardian before performing an abortion. Along with this written consent, parents would need to provide a copy of their government-issued ID. Physicians who provide an abortion for a minor without this consent could face third-degree felony charges, facing up to five years in prison.
"A child cannot simply tell their parents they are going on a field trip or even playing a school sport. So, why would we accept that a child can simply inform their parents they intend to have an abortion?" GOP state Rep. Erin Grall insisted in a statement on the House version of the bill.
How is this a change from current law? Right now, for minors to access abortions in Florida, parents or guardians must be informed before the procedure takes place. But being notified (while still problematic and restrictive) is, obviously, different than requiring consent.
“I worry that many girls will, when deprived access to a safe termination of pregnancy, take the risks of finding an unsafe, dangerous and untested method of terminating their pregnancies,” Rep. Susan Valdes, a Democrat, said, as reported by NBC News.
“We hear the stories about the bad parent, the human trafficking, the intolerant parent, the abusive parent, the parent who will kill their child. I refuse to accept that we should diminish the rights of all parents in the raising of their children because of the acts of a few,” Grall stated. Choosing to dismiss someone’s horrors, however, does not make them any less real.
As reported by the Associated Press, the bill does, technically, offer a provision in cases of incest or abuse. The pregnant teenager could request a waiver from a judge in the circuit court that they live in, which sounds plausible in theory, before one considers how intimidating, inaccessible, and overwhelming the legal system is for anyone, much less an abused young person. People, including minors, deserve privacy, dignity, and autonomy.
“We are codifying into law that someone else can force a girl to have a child she does not want to have,” Valdes stressed. While it’s likely to be challenged in court, DeSantis is expected to sign the bill, as he’s expressed support for it in the past. If he does sign, it will become law on July 1st.