#2647 (4/18) PRO-LIFE SAT: "Florida House Passes Pro-Life Bill Requiring Parental Consent For Abortions"

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"FLORIDA HOUSE PASSES PRO-LIFE BILL REQUIRING PARENTAL CONSENT LAWS FOR ABORTIONS" -  Micaiah Bilger April 18, 2019| https://www.lifenews.com/2019/04/18/florida-house-passes-pro-life-bill-requiring-parental-consent-for-abortions/ [AS I SEE IT: It's not surprising that Planned Parenthood would oppose young people being required to notify their parents. It would most certainly result in fewer of them going ahead with an abortion - PP's number one business - in the face of pressures from boyfriends and various fears and confusion and thus cut into their big moneymaker.. Further, PP has even been noted to use the abortions they offer to cover up cases of young girls who have been sexually abused. Parental consent laws is simply common sense protection for young people. - Stan]

     Florida House lawmakers passed legislation Wednesday to require pregnant minors to obtain a parent’s consent before they can have an abortion.

   State representatives passed House Bill 1335 in a 69-44 vote on Wednesday after a lengthy and sometimes heated debate, the News Service of Florida reports. Florida currently requires that a parent be notified before a girl under age 18 has an abortion. The bill would strengthen protections for minors and their unborn babies by requiring a parent’s consent. It includes exceptions for medical emergencies as well as for situations where there is evidence that the minor is being abused by a parent. The state Senate is considering similar legislation.

  “It is my belief the parent needs to be involved in the decision-making of the child,” said state Rep. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, the sponsor of the bill. The Tampa Bay Times reports about 1,500 minors have abortions in Florida annually.

   Most House Democrats opposed the measure. According to the Times, state Reps. Evan Jenne and Fentrice Driskell said the bill could take away young women’s right to privacy. Grall responded, “The minor does have a right to privacy but it is not absolute.” State Rep. Tommy Gregory, R-Sarasota, also defended the legislation, saying: “These are serious decisions we are allowing minor children to make without their parents. And that should not be the law in the state of Florida,” according to the News Service of Florida.

   Florida lawmakers previously passed very similar legislation, but abortion activists challenged it and the state Supreme Court struck down the law. However, many believe the new legislation has a greater chance of being upheld now that there are more conservative justices on the state high court.

  The abortion chain Planned Parenthood is lobbying against the new effort in Florida. Parental consent laws “make young people less safe and more likely to face a hard decision alone and afraid,” said Laura Goodhue, executive director of the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates. “It is important to recognize that parental consent laws in no way guarantee that a young person will talk to her parents or guardians before she has an abortion. All forced parental consent laws do is put at-risk youth at even greater risk.” 

   But parental consent laws do help minors, and they have strong public support. They can help protect young girls from sexual abusers who often use abortion to cover up their crimes. The laws also help protect vulnerable teens from making a hasty, uninformed decision to abort their unborn babies – something they may later regret. And research shows that these laws help save unborn babies from abortions.

   Parental involvement laws have strong public support, and 37 states currently require it in some form before a minor aborts her unborn baby. This year, however, Illinois, Massachusetts and Rhode Island are considering pro-abortion bills to end their parental involvement laws. Polls show strong support for parental involvement laws. A Gallup poll found 71 percent of Americans favor laws requiring parents’ involvement in a minor’s abortion decision.

[italics and colored emphasis mine]

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PRAYER MATTERS:

"To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world. -  Karl Barth
"Prayer is inviting God into a seemingly impossible situation and trusting/resting in His love and grace to accomplish His perfect will in His perfect time and for His greatest glory. Intercession is the one of the great privileges AND responsibilities for EVERY believer."  "To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world." - Stan

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Praying Through the Open Doors World Watch List for persecuted believers:https://www.opendoorsusa.org/take-action/pray/monthly-prayer-calendar/

The women of the persecuted church—in April, Open Doors is focusing on this group crucial to the spread of the gospel and thriving of the global Body of Christ. Throughout the world, 
women and girls are doubly persecuted: for their faith and for their gender. We invite you to step into their stories and pray with these sisters in Christ.
April 20 | NIGERIA - The Christian population in Kebbi State has grown from .3 percent in 1952 to almost 25 percent today. Praise God for the growth, and pray for pastors’ wisdom as they disciple Nigerians.
*Names changed to protect identities