Central Florida legislator introduces pro-life bill

A Central Florida legislator has introduced a bill in Tallahassee aimed at promoting respect for life.
State Senator Andy Gardiner (R-Dist. 9) has introduced an amendment to existing Florida law regulating abortions. It requires the administration of an ultrasound test prior to the termination of a pregnancy. The ultrasound must be used to verify the probable age of the fetus and the live images must be shown and explained to the woman seeking the abortion. However, the patient may decline viewing the ultrasound by signing a waiver. When the pregnancy results from rape, incest, domestic violence or human trafficking, or when the pregnancy creates a serious risk to the woman’s health, the viewing and written waiver are not required.
While under the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade states are compelled to permit abortions as late as six months into a pregnancy, the Gardiner amendment would require abortionists to allow women to look at the living creature they are about to destroy.
One of the cornerstones of that decision was the line drawn at the moment a child became ‘quick in the womb.’ Prior to that moment, states are prohibited by Roe from placing any restrictions or regulations on abortions. According to Justice Blackmun’s historical analysis, ‘quickness’ happens at the end of the first trimester. However, in the more than 35 years since Roe, medical advances have shown that a human life takes shape in the womb much sooner than that. The requirement of ultrasound tests and the mother’s opportunity to view them prior to the abortion should help dispel the myth that first trimester babies are nothing more than an inconvenient growth.
In his dissent from Roe, Justice Byron White called the majority’s decision

“. . . an improvident and extravagant exercise of the power of judicial review that the Constitution extends to this Court.”

He went on to express the real legal and ethical meaning of the Court’s decision in a concise, yet indisputable manner:

“I cannot accept the Court's exercise of its clear power of choice by interposing a constitutional barrier to state efforts to protect human life and by investing mothers and doctors with the constitutionally protected right to exterminate it.”

‘Nuff said.

For more info: 
Andy Gardiner's web page
For more information on Sen. Gardiner's bill
Florida Family Policy council