Tie vote kills ultrasound bill

Tie vote kills ultrasound bill

With only a few days left in the legislative session, Senate and House members are trying to finalize several more plans including the controversial bill that would require a woman seeking an abortion to first have (and pay for) an ultrasound.

State law already requires an ultrasound before a woman can have an abortion in her second or third trimester of pregnancy. The bill would have extended that to the first trimester.

The Senate was sharply divided on the matter, narrowly defeating the bill will a 20-20 vote on Wednesday.

Opponents pointed out that the bill would violate U.S. Supreme Court decisions that have said government can’t create undue burdens or impediments to women seeking to end a pregnancy. They also argued that the high cost of ultrasounds put an undue burden on poorer women.

Supporters argued that the ultrasound would encourage women about to have an abortion to change their minds. It also would have required that the woman have the opportunity to look at the sonogram, although she could have declined to see it.

Without a majority vote, the measure dies and it is unlikely it will resurface again since this session ends Friday.

Lawmakers did agree that the state’s conservation land program would continue. The bill that will create a successor program for Florida Forever is heading to the governor’s desk. Florida forever was set to end in 2010, and since 1990 has allowed the state to acquire or preserve nearly 2.8 million acres of environmentally sensitive land.

The proposed program would increase the amount of money that could be spent buying lands from $300 million a year to $530 million a year. The actual amount would still have to be approved by lawmakers every year.

Three north Florida counties are named be the guinea pigs for a pilot program allowing certain private school students to participate in sports at public schools. Only students from schools that are not members of the Florida High School Athletic Association and don't have sports programs could take part.

After two years, the association and participating school districts would report and make recommendations for expanding it statewide.

The Senate previously passed the bill as a statewide program but the House amended it to the two-year pilot project in Duval, Nassau and Bradford counties.