The Florida Senate has approved a proposed state constitutional amendment and a bill to ban abortion funding with public and insurance exchange dollars. The largely party line votes in the Republican-controlled Senate on Wednesday sent both House-passed measures back to that chamber with some changes.
The amendment (HJR 1179) passed with 27 votes three more than the minimum to put it on the 2012 ballot. It would ban public funding already prohibited by federal law and exempt abortion from the Florida Constitutions strong privacy right. The bill (HR 79) would exclude abortion coverage from policies obtained through insurance exchanges states must set up in 2014 under the federal health care overhaul.
Both include exceptions for rape, incest and to protect the mother’s life, but not her health.
Source: MiamiHerald.com