TALLAHASSEE (FBW) – After more than an hour of questions and debate and a series of complex parliamentarian maneuvers, the Florida Senate temporarily set aside today a bill that would require ultrasounds for women seeking abortions during the first trimester of pregnancy.

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Senators agreed to take up the bill, SB 2400, sponsored by Sen. Daniel Webster (R-Winter Garden), again on Friday.

Current law already requires an ultrasound before an abortion in the second and third trimester of pregnancy, and Webster’s bill includes an opt-out provision allowing women and girls to decline to view the image.

During the discussion, Webster, a longtime member of First Baptist Church of Central Florida in Orlando, was peppered with many questions from opponents of the legislation.

Two amendments that Webster said would “gut” his bill were offered by seven senators: Mike Bennett (R-Bradenton), Nan Rich (D-Sunrise), Ted Deutch (D-Delray Beach), Gwen Margolis (D-Bay Harbor Island), Paula Dockery (R-Lakeland), Arthenia Joyner (D-Tampa), and Jim King (R-Jacksonville).

In a series of parliamentarian actions, the amendments were supplanted by substitute amendments offered by Webster to restore his original language.

The Senate then took-up the House version of the bill, HB 257, sponsored by Rep. Anthony Traviesa (R-Tampa), which was adopted on April 2 and addressed matters beyond ultrasounds. The Senate appeared poised to replace HB 257 with Webster’s bill when senators caucused privately on the floor for about 10 minutes.

Following the meetings, Senate President Ken Pruitt (R-Port St. Lucie) announced the House bill with Webster’s bill substituted in its place would be “temporarily passed,” essentially tabling the bill. Sen. King, Rules Committee chairman, announced the bill would be revisited Friday morning, April 25.

During the question time on the bill, many senators took turns grilling Webster with questions critiquing the measure’s effect on increased cost of abortions, calling into question Webster’s claim that 82 percent of abortion clinics already require ultrasounds be performed for the purpose of setting the price, questioning whether current law really requires ultrasounds in the second and third trimester, raising concerns about the impact of the bill on victims of rape and incest, and expressing concern the bill creates an unconstitutional “undue burden” on women seeking abortions.

Comments by Sen. Burt Saunders (R-Naples) raised concerns among pro-life advocates that his support of the bill in the Senate Health and Human Services Appropriations Committee may not hold up in a floor vote. Saunders said he supported the bill in committee “because I thought that it was important to have a more thorough debate on the issue.”

Noting he has had “quite a few conversations about the medial aspects of doing the ultrasound” with his physician wife, Saunders asked Webster if there was a medical need to perform ultrasounds.

“There may be some clinics that do that but the question becomes, ‘why should we mandate that?’” Saunders said. “I think that we have to have some good medical reason. You’ve done a lot of research on this and perhaps there’s some physician statement or something that would indicate why from a medical standpoint we would do this. That’s important to me, because I don’t think we should just simply be mandating tests unless we have a medical reason to do that.”

Webster noted in reply that the state already requires an ultrasound before an abortion in the later stages of pregnancy, “so that has already been imposed” and the state has “already stepped over that hoop.”

He added that abortion clinics are already performing the ultrasounds and that his bill would simply require them to share that information with women, unless they choose to decline to see the image.

Florida Baptist Convention legislative consultant Bill Bunkley told Florida Baptist Witness concerned citizens should act immediately to share their views with senators.

“It’s time tonight and tomorrow morning for citizens to communicate with senators in a very positive manner if they believe this legislation should be enacted,” Bunkley said following the Senate debate.