Abortion bill another unnecessary intrusion

Sometimes the best legislation is no legislation at all.

If only Gov. Rick Scott would keep that in mind before signing House Bill 633, which would create another unnecessary roadblock for women who’ve made the agonizing decision to have an abortion.

Chances are the governor will sign it. In recent years, he’s signed bills that require women to undergo medically unnecessary ultrasounds before having an abortion and narrow the time frame in which women can terminate a pregnancy.

The 24-hour waiting-period bill essentially says women who seek an abortion might not be in the right state of mind to make the decision on their own, so government must protect them by requiring them to wait.

It also would require women to make two trips to an abortion provider to get the procedure — the first to have an initial meeting with the doctor, undergo an ultra- sound and receive excruciating detail about everything that happens. Then, they must wait at least 24 hours before returning to have the procedure performed.

The bill’s author is 23-year-old Rep. Jennifer Sullivan, R-Mount Dora, the youngest woman ever elected to the Florida Legislature.

While her election is an admirable accomplishment, Sullivan lacks the realworld experience needed to temper the insertion of government into personal medical decisions.

In the real world, women don’t have an abortion without a lot of thought, angst and emotional discussion.

It is not a decision they take lightly or without a tremendous amount of thought. Certainly most women have thought about it for more than 24 hours before making a decision.

Sullivan says the bill “empowers” women who might be coerced into having an abortion by a boyfriend, spouse or other family member. Wrong. It does exactly the opposite. It makes a heart-wrenching decision even tougher by adding the waiting period.

As Sen. Maria Sachs, D-Delray Beach, pointed out, the bill further makes things rough for women because “70 percent of the counties in this state don’t have an abortion provider.” Women would still have to make two trips, no matter how far they have to travel.

If that’s not onerous enough, Sullivan initially wanted to allow no exceptions to the 24-hour waiting period. None. In the end, lawmakers added exceptions for victims of rape, incest, domestic violence or human trafficking — but only if such women can produce police reports, restraining orders, medical records or other documentation of their attack or abuse.

That is supposed to be empowering for women?

In the real world, victims of rape, incest or domestic violence are often too traumatized to be worried about getting documentation. And, as Sachs explained, some are in no position to make two trips to a distant provider to get a procedure that has already produced plenty of agony.

The Republican-dominated Senate approved the bill after it passed the House, and it reached Scott’s desk before the Legislature unceremoniously adjourned last week.

If signed into law, this bill will certainly generate lawsuits that question its constitutionality. It would cause more emotional distress for women. And it would belie the conservative principle of limited government.

This can be avoided if Gov. Scott doesn’t sign the bill.

Considering Scott’s past actions on abortion legislation, don’t bet on that.