Gov. Jeb Bush signed a bill Tuesday increasing state oversight of abortion clinics that provide second-trimester abortions, saying he did so ``gladly, with pride and conviction.''Bush said the new law wasn't related to his anti-abortion views but he later added that he was motivated, in part, by his desire ``to create a culture of life in our state.''
Based on a woman's right to choose, the U.S. Supreme Court has largely shielded first-trimester abortions from state regulation. Most of the nearly 85,000 abortions performed in Florida last year were done during the first trimester _ or three months _ of pregnancy.
States do have more leeway to regulate abortions later in a woman's pregnancy. Almost 9,000 of Florida's abortions are second-trimester abortions.The new law, which takes effect July 1, will cover any abortion clinic that provides second-trimester abortions. The bill, which gives few specifics, says the state Agency for Health Care Administration will implement new rules covering the clinic's building, equipment, staffing and the procedure itself. The agency is drafting regulations.
At least half of Florida's 65 abortion clinics provide both first and second trimester abortions, according to Stephanie Grutman, executive director of Planned Parenthood of Florida.
Clinics that provide only first-trimester abortions, like all nine of Grutman's clinics, will not be covered.
Grutman said her group opposed the bill ``because it puts big government restrictions on clinics and forces clinics that are already regulated to stop providing services.''
But Bush and other supporters said the new law will erase a double standard that now exists because abortion clinics are currently exempt from regulations that cover physician offices, hospitals and other surgical centers.
``This is a simple bill that says women are deserving of the same quality care when they go to a doctor's office or a hospital or, sadly, to an abortion clinic,'' Bush said.
He said the new law did not trespass onto constitutionally protected abortion rights.
One supporter on hand for Tuesday's signing was Dr. Randy Armstrong, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Hillsborough County who provides emergency room coverage at University Community Hospital.
Armstrong, who does not perform abortions, said he has seen ``and continues to see'' the problems that result from lack of regulations of abortion clinics. In the last six months of 2004, nearly three dozen women were admitted into the hospital because of complications from second-trimester abortions.
Like Bush, state Sen. Paula Dockery, a Lakeland Republican who sponsored the legislation in the Senate, said the bill was about quality health care for women, not placing restrictions on abortion rights.
``It was not pro-life or pro-choice, it was pro-woman,'' she said.
But Rep. Aaron Bean, who has sponsored the bill in the House for the last four years, said working out details was difficult.
``It was a slugfest,'' the Fernandina Beach Republican said. Bean thanked the governor, saying his staff was involved in working on the bill this year ``like never before.''
