A Florida Senate committee advanced a bill Wednesday that would require women seeking an abortion to wait 24-hours; the Senate Judiciary Committee rejected an amendment by Tampa Senator Arthenia Joyner (D) that would have waived the waiting period in cases like rape or incest. Democratic Senator Darren Soto questioned the bill’s sponsor, Republican Anitere Flores, about the constitutionality of the waiting period.
Like in a previous committee stop, time constraints led to many members of the public who had signed up to speak not being able to. Wednesday, 18 people were turned away – though the committee noted whether they supported or opposed the waiting period bill.
One of the people who did get to speak was Florida NOW representative Barbara Devane, who criticized the bill for considering women to be feeble and not able to make decisions on their own.
audio courtesy of The Florida Channel
