Florida anti-abortion activists were making last minute pleas to Gov. Charlie Crist asking him to sign legislation that would require women seeking an abortion to first have an ultrasound and in many cases hear the doctor describe the sonogram.
The requirement, which was added to a previously unrelated health care regulation bill (HB 1143) near the end of the 2010 legislative session, elicited strong emotions from both sides of the political aisle and has prompted a string of E-mails, phone calls and personal pleas to the governor’s office asking for either a signature or veto.
On Thursday, Operation Outcry, an anti-abortion group, marched to the Capitol to display more than 100 pairs of baby shoes to represent the aborted fetuses of women in the group and to present Crist with a package of testimonials from women who had abortions and later regretted having the procedure.
“Abortion hurts women, men, families and their communities,” said Daria Monroe, who had an abortion at the age of 19 and is the Florida state leader of Operation Outcry.
The Legislature did not send the measure to Crist’s desk until more than a month after it passed the House and Senate, which allowed both public support and opposition to build. Crist has hinted that he will veto the measure, voicing concerns about the bill and saying it was “mean-spirited.”
A spokesman for the governor said he didn’t expect Crist to take action on the bill Thursday, but a decision is due this month.
Meanwhile, Crist’s former political confidante, U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, R-Fla. also called on the governor to sign the bill, which additionally bans federal and state tax dollars from going to pay for abortions.
“HB1143 makes absolutely clear that Floridians’ tax dollars will not be used for elective abortions and I urge the governor to sign the bill,” LeMieux said in a press release. “Florida has never offered taxpayer funded elective abortion, and now is not the time to start.”
By Kathleen Haughney
The News Service of Florida
