The Florida House of Representatives has passed a bill prohibiting doctors from performing abortions solely because of a fetus’s disability.
House Bill 1221 was passed 74-44 by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Friday.
According to FOX13, Republican state Rep. Tyler Sirois said, “The concept of ending a pregnancy based on a disability is modern day eugenics,” “The Nazis attempted to establish a master race in the 1930s. They wanted to get rid of any trait or condition that they didn’t think was worthy of being in the gene pool.”
The fate of the companion bill in the state Senate, which is also controlled by Republicans, is unknown. The legislative session will come to an end on April 30.
“The Florida House PASSED #HB1221!” Republicans in the House of Representatives were ecstatic on Twitter on Friday.
Abortions in cases of fetal disabilities such as Down syndrome, according to House Democrats, are a highly personal matter in which the government should not intervene.
Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood is attempting to distance itself from Margaret Sanger, the organization’s founder, over her views on race, but critics claim the abortion provider is still perpetuating racism in its current practices.
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The Florida House PASSED #HB1221! This legislation prohibits a physician from performing an abortion solely on the basis of the fetus’ disability. @ErinGrall pic.twitter.com/SSwxdKFwN0
— FL House Republicans (@FLGOPMajority) April 23, 2021
Sanger’s past with eugenics was acknowledged in a New York Times op-ed earlier this month, and the organization committed to having a “reckoning” with her legacy by, among other things, making her less prominent in their “present and future.”
Planned Parenthood CEO and president Alexis McGill Johnson wrote, “We will no longer make excuses or apologize for Margaret Sanger’s actions,”
