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Democratic state Sen. Tina Polsky filed a bill Thursday changing the definition of fatal fetal abnormality in the state’s law banning most abortions after six weeks’ gestation.
The Democrat representing parts of Palm Beach and Broward counties decided to file SB 288 after hearing about a Florida woman who had to watch her baby suffocate for 94 minutes after birth while Florida’s 15-week abortion ban was in effect, according to a press release.
Deborah Dorbert shared her experience about carrying her baby to term despite knowing about a kidney defect while advocating in favor of the unsuccessful amendment to enshrine abortion access in Florida’s Constitution.
Under Polsky’s bill, only one physician instead of two would have to determine if an abortion is medically necessary when a fatal fetal abnormality is incompatible with prolonged life and would result in death shortly after birth. The change would allow for more flexibility in cases in which the abnormality doesn’t cause immediate death.
“Having now lived under Florida’s abortion law since May of last year, it’s become clear that healthcare providers are unable to apply the ban’s originally intended exceptions under the law as currently written,” Polsky wrote in a press release.
“While I may personally oppose the overall ban, this bill is not intended to change the substantive provisions. It’s about making sure that the exceptions that the sponsors intended to exist — for cases involving fatal fetal abnormalities, and when a pregnant woman’s health is at risk — provide clear guidance to physicians.”
Saving the life of the mother
Additionally, the bill would change the exceptions when the health and life of the pregnant person are at risk.
The existing exception allows abortions beyond six weeks’ gestation to save the life of the mother or if continuing the pregnancy would cause substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function. The change would extend the exception to prolong someone’s life and if carrying the pregnancy would result in a medical condition related to a major bodily function, even if the damage is not permanent.
Abortions to prevent impairment to the patient’s fertility and psychological harm would also count as medically necessary, according to the bill.
Consulting police and lawyers has become a part of Florida abortion providers’ work
“Passage of SB 288 would clarify the statute and ensure that women aren’t being harmed due to their doctors’ and their hospital’s inability to decipher confusing statutory language,” Polsky wrote. “Let’s allow doctors to care for their patients and save lives before it’s too late.”
In September, a report from the nonprofit Physicians for Human Rights found that Florida’s abortion ban led physicians and other health care providers to delay treatment for patients facing life-threatening complications out of fear of criminal charges and loss of their medical license.
Another exception in the six-week ban allows survivors of rape, incest, and human trafficking to get abortions up to 15 weeks’ gestation if they can provide documents such as a restraining order, police report, or medical record. SB 288 doesn’t make changes to that section of the law.
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