JACKSONVILLE (FBW)-Florida state senators engaged in nearly two hours of impassioned debate April 15 before passing a measure designed to let voters decide if parents should be notified of their minor child’s abortion.

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Mustering enough votes for a 60 percent majority to approve the proposed constitutional amendment, lawmakers voted 27-13 to put the debate on November’s presidential ballot.

The bill is now headed back to the House of Representatives where lawmakers last month approved a similar bill that stopped short of stipulating procedures for judicial bypass or exceptions in the case of rape or incest.

Though (HJR1) does not include rape or incest exemptions, it does appear to some pro-life leaders to be ambiguous about what exemptions are to be brought before the legislature if the voters support it in November.

The proposals are in response to a July ruling by the Florida Supreme Court that overturned a 1999 law requiring doctors notify parents 48 hours before performing an abortion on a minor.

Immediately proceeding the session, Daniel Webster (R-Winter Garden) was optimistic the bill would pass, despite the language.

“It’s not everything that we hoped for, but it’s far better than when we started,” Webster, a member of First Baptist Church of Central Florida in Orlando, told Florida Baptist Witness.

“It’s not our final vote. It still has to go back to the House,” Webster noted. “If they toss out one sentence, I would be more supportive.”

In a previous interview with the Witness, Webster indicated “rape and other stipulations belong in the statute and not in the constitution.”

Bill Bunkley, legislative consultant for the Florida Baptist Convention, told the Witness at press time April 19 members of both chambers were meeting together informally to  discuss their “mutual concerns” about the Senate version of the bill.

“The House is not inclined to go along with the Senate language” Bunkley said. “I’m not optimistic that the Senate will comply with the House on this.”

Bunkley said if the bill languishes on the calendar “Senators will have to explain to their constituents why they failed to support a simple amendment to put before voters.”

After a meeting about faith-based initiatives, Gov. Jeb Bush told reporters April 15 he supports parental notification, but was not aware of the details of ongoing wrangling in the legislature.

“I’m for parental notification,” Bush said. “I think the voters will be when they’re given the chance.”

Sen. Anna P. Cowin (R-Leesburg), in the Senate’s April 15 session urged lawmakers to approve the resolution in order to “open the dialogue” in order to see what the public wants.

“All the debate about whether or not you support notifying a parent of their child’s pregnancy and [abortion] is all moot,” Cowin said. [T]he bottom line is the public will answer and speak to the issue.”

Cowin’s remarks followed on the heels of passionate debate, dominated by women senators, about the reproductive rights of women.

Waving a gold-toned wire hanger in the air, Sen. Gwen Margolis (D-Aventura) invoked visions of bloody, illegal back-alley abortions. She called the proposal “pathetic” and said parental notification would “hurt your daughters and your granddaughters.”

Sen. Frederica S. Wilson (D-Miami), told legislators they would be going to the “back woods” with parental notification and indicated gender was key to any decision.

“It is real disturbing to me that most of the people in this body happen to be men,” Wilson noted. “Not one man has any business making decisions about what young girls should be doing with their bodies ..,” she said.

Wilson suggested, instead, that “we should legislate based on how we feel our daughters will respond to a situation like this.”

“Government does not belong in our private family matters,” Wilson insisted.

Sen. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Weston) agreed the matter was one for parents and their children to settle at home, though she compared the proposal to one that would ask for a parent’s permission to allow a child to get his/her ears pierced – a circumstance that already calls for parental consent.

Wasserman Schultz concluded that putting this proposal on the ballot would lead to a burden on the already over-taxed foster care system by producing unwanted newborn babies.

“This amendment is wrong,” Wasserman Schultz said. “Putting it in the Florida Constitution is wrong and we are jeopardizing young girls and are jeopardizing unborn babies,” Wasserman said.

Larencia J. Bullard (D-Miami) who was the lone Democrat to eventually cross over to vote with Republicans, told the men she appreciated them for “caring about your daughters.”

Calling the notification a “moral issue,” Bullard said she did not believe teens have “no place to go” when faced with tough issues.

“Some of you are talking about ancient versus present day times,” Bullard said, reminding legislators that times had changed and there are scores of programs ready to assist girls who are pregnant.

Words falling like bricks in the Senate chamber, with all 40 state senators present, Bullard broke into halting tears as she told lawmakers she spoke from firsthand knowledge.

“I am a victim,” she cried, telling a hushed audience she was a victimized by her own father. Revealing a very personal story of forgiveness and healing that she previously had told only her immediate family, Bullard said the proposal would encourage girls to share with their mothers.

“I could not draw closure ... until I got to my mother and I forgave my father,” Bullard said. “It is a good thing for a child to tell her mother about what is happening.”

Citing “health and safety issues,” Sen. Mike Haridopolos (R-Melbourne), said he believed parental notification could prove to help teens at a time when they are most vulnerable.

“Let’s make sure that in this case, where a teenager is facing probably the most difficult decision that they’ll ever face, that their parents will be there to share it with them,” he said.

Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla (R-Miami), who sponsored the bill at the request of Senate President Jim King, assured Democrats details left out during this session will be added next year.

Calling the stories about back-alley abortions nothing more than “scare tactics,” Diaz de la Portilla said children are not mature enough to make life-altering decisions.

“We’re not trying to ban abortions here,” Diaz de la Portilla said. “What [the proposal] does is simply tell parents, ‘You have the right to know.’”

More than that, Diaz de la Portilla said the proposal is purposefully broad in order to keep matters simple.

“Our constitution is a sacred document,” he said. “We have to protect minors who are victims of sexual abuse, but that belongs in the statute, not the constitution.”

Florida is one of a handful of states that has neither a parental consent nor a parental notification law. In 1989, the Florida Supreme Court, in a 4-3 ruling, struck down a law sponsored by Daniel Webster who was Speaker of the House at the time. The court ruled the law violated the state’s constitution’s right to privacy provision.