The Republican-controlled Florida House has passed a bill that would impose a variety of new restrictions on abortions.
It now goes the Senate, where a similar bill is stalled in committee.
The bill (HB 277) passed Thursday on a largely partisan 78-33 roll call.
It includes a 24-hour waiting period, a requirement for abortion doctors to get continuing education in ethics and a provision that would limit ownership of new abortion clinics to doctors who had received training in abortion-related procedures during their residencies.
The bill also would expand the category of prohibited abortions to include cases in which the fetus is deemed viable by a doctor. Abortions currently are prohibited in the third trimester.
The House passed a similar bill last year but it failed in the Senate.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
