Pro-choice lawmakers in Florida insisted on treating abortion just like other medical procedures. Then they demanded exceptions. Then they complained that a new law to make that authority clear would be unconstitutional. They said Florida should wait for the U.S. Supreme Court to clarify which regulations were constitutional. And when a moderate pro-choice legislator proposed to spend public funds to help poor women offset the cost of new regulations the vice president of the Florida Abortion Council declined the offer.
One bill under consideration copied the standards of the National Abortion Federation almost verbatim. Despite this, [the FAC] refused to accept it. The proposed regulations were "too rigid." Either that, or they were "too vague." . . .
Perhaps abortion rights lobbyists could have killed the bill on their own. But the failure of clinic regulation in Florida, as in Pennsylvania, was a collaborative tragedy in which each camp played its part. Hours before the committee was to vote, Florida's top pro-life lobbyist told reporters that if any clinic safety bill reached the Senate floor, pro-lifers would amend it to restrict abortions generally. When Malchon heard about his threat, she was furious. The deal was off. Slate
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