TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Legislation allowing grieving families to receive what is being called a non-viable birth certificate was approved by a House Committee on a 15-0 vote, but pro-choice advocates worry the bill is a back-door attempt to change the concept of when life begins.
The legislation is ready for a floor vote in the House, and it will be up before a Senate committee on Monday.
Florida law currently allows the family of a woman who has miscarried a fetus 20 weeks or older to apply for and receive a certificate of fetal death. Rep. Bob Cortes wants to cut the time in half to 10 weeks.
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"They can take that child right now and bury it, give it proper burial and give it a headstone and everything else to recognize that that child was there," Cortes said. "They should have a certificate to recognize that child was part of their life.”
Sponsors believe as many as 50,000 parents could apply each year.
As the bill was cruising to a 15-0 committee vote, the National Organization for Women expressed its opposition.
While the Florida Catholic Conference said it supported the bill, NOW said it believes the bill is a back-door attempt to influence future abortion rulings.
Barbara DeVane, with NOW, said the matter is about abortion and about giving a death certificate to a fetus.
“I think this gets us into really tricky territory when it comes to the start of life,” Charo Valero, with the Latino Advocacy Network, said.
News4Jax asked the Catholic Conference about its intent.
“(This has) nothing to do with abortion, just the value of the loss of an unborn child,” Ingrid Del Gado, with the Catholic Conference, said.
Cortes said the bill has nothing to do with changing the definition of when life begins.
“As a matter of fact, if someone aborts a fetus, they will not be eligible to apply for a non-viable birth certificate," he said.
While fetal death certificates have been around in Florida for a decade, the suspicion about them has never subsided.