The new Florida Abortion Bill
Bottom Line: Perhaps not coincidentally, on back of a recent Marist poll showing that a massive 75% of Americans favor restrictions on abortions, there’s a new piece of legislation being proposed in Florida by Representative Mike Hill. The proposal is as straight-forward as it is likely to be controversial. It’d restrict abortions in Florida once a heartbeat is present. More on that timeline in a moment. Back to the Marist poll first.
In the Marist poll something became somewhat clearer. Americans often define themselves or are characterized as being either pro-life or pro-choice. Here’s the bigger point. Even most who self-ID as being pro-choice want restrictions on abortions. According to Marist 61% of Americans who ID as being pro-choice do believe there should be timelines placed on legal abortions based on the stage of life that’s been achieved. That’s huge and generally never discussed.
It also speaks to my personal thoughts regarding abortions. Education. I believe that all women should be educated about what happens during an abortion at the stage of the pregnancy they’re in at the time of the procedure. Having (attempted) to watch an abortion at every stage of a pregnancy – I can tell you the difference is vast and likely in ways most never imagine without the information.
In the Marist research, the timeline for an end to abortions for a majority of Americans, 59% was 20 weeks or just past the halfway point of the typical pregnancy. So back to what this proposal calls for – the heartbeat being the determining factor.
The average detectable heartbeat occurs in the sixth week of pregnancy. For that reason, even based on the Marist research, I think it’ll fail to pass the Florida legislature. The information and education about pregnancies, I feel, is critically important to the conversation. Did you know the average heartbeat is detectable after six weeks? Does that impact your view of pregnancy – even in the earliest stages? The more you know...