Florida legislature passes bill requiring parental consent for minors to have abortion

By: CNN

Posted: Feb 21, 2020 10:45 AM EDT

By Chuck Johnston and Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN

(CNN) -- The Florida legislature passed a state bill requiring pregnant minors to get consent from a parent or legal guardian for an abortion, sending the bill to the governor's desk.

Senate Bill 404 passed its final legislative hurdle Thursday when the Florida state House voted 75-43 to approve the bill.

The measure now heads to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has previously signaled his support for the bill.

The bill comes as several other conservative-led states have sought to restrict access to abortion, with some bills passed in the hopes that it would be challenged before the US Supreme Court to eventually overturn Roe v. Wade.

The bill would require physicians to obtain written consent from a parent or legal guardian before performing or inducing the termination of a pregnancy of a minor. The consenting parent or legal guardian would have to give the physician a copy of a government-issued proof of identification, and the parent must certify in a notarized document that they consent to the termination of the pregnancy of the minor.

Under the bill, any doctor who performs an abortion on a minor without consent from a guardian could face up to five years in prison for a third degree felony.

Exceptions for consent includes in cases of medical emergency or if the minor petitions the circuit court where she resides for a judicial waiver.

Under current Florida law, a parent or legal guardian must be notified before a minor has an abortion.

DeSantis said in January at his State of the State address that he hoped the parental consent bill would make its way to his desk during the session. CNN has reached out to the governor's office.

If DeSantis signs the bill, it will go into effect on July 1.

The bill was introduced in the Senate in September and passed the chamber earlier this month by a 23-17 vote.

Thirty-seven states currently require the involvement of a parent in a minor's decision to have an abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

Florida would join five states -- Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming -- that currently require both parental notification and consent for a minor to have an abortion.

The US Supreme Court in its 1989 decision in Planned Parenthood v. Danforth said parents of minor, unwed girls cannot be given an absolute veto over abortions.