Florida governor signs abortion parental consent law News
Florida governor signs abortion parental consent law

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed a bill into law that requires written parental consent for all minors having abortions and makes it a third-degree felony to violate the law.

The bill was passed in February of this year after the state legislature voted 75-43 along party lines. Republican legislators argued that parents need to be included in an abortion decision, while Democratic legislators suggested that the mandate would put girls at higher risk from parents and from dangers imposed by not seeking an abortion if needed.

The law also includes a provision allowing a minor to petition a court to receive a judicial waiver of parental consent. The exception is intended to apply to cases of incest, sexual abuse or child abuse in which the minor may be unable to attain consent.

In a statement on Twitter, Planned Parenthood in Florida said:

Even as other states like Massachusetts and Illinois are realizing the damage these forced parental consent laws are doing and working to reverse them, Florida is moving full speed to endanger young people who, in many cases, have experienced abuse at the hands of their own parents or guardians.

The law itself is very similar to another parental consent law previously passed by the Florida Legislature but subsequently struck down by the Florida Supreme Court in 1990, which ruled the law violated women’s “right to be let alone and free from governmental intrusion into [her] private life.” However, no suits have currently been filed challenging this law, which went into effect on Wednesday.