A Florida representative claims that God told him to sponsor a bill next year to ban nearly all abortions, much like the bill that passed in Alabama earlier this month.
According to the Pensacola News Journal, Florida Rep. Mike Hill sponsored a bill in the Florida legislature this session that would have banned abortions if a fetal heartbeat was detected, however it died without getting a hearing in any committee.
Florida's own fetal heartbeat bill would have lead to third-degree felony charges for any “person who knowingly or purposefully performs or induces an abortion on a pregnant woman with the specific intent of causing or abetting the termination of the life of the unborn human being whose fetal heartbeat has been detected,” though it would include limited exceptions for rape, incest, domestic violence, human trafficking or if the woman's life is in danger.
Hill told the Pensacola News Journal he wasn't happy with those exceptions, but thought it would give the bill a better chance of passing.
The bill died in the Health Quality Subcommittee despite gathering 20 co-sponsors.
Florida's next legislative session begins in January 2020, but legislative committees will begin meeting in the fall.
