TALLAHASSEE, FL—A Florida bill would create a taxpayer-funded website housed under the Department of Health and would compile all pregnancy resources for expectant mothers. Opponents, however, criticized the Surgeon General and worried about the website's inclusion of unlicensed Crisis Pregnancy Centers.
"The website will contain critical resources for pregnant women ranging from pre-natal care, maternal health services, social services, early childhood development resources, and educational mentorship program specifically designed for fathers," Republican Sen. Erin Grall, the sponsor of SB 436, said in Tuesday's Senate Fiscal Policy Committee.
"All of this information will be compiled into an easy-to-navigate website maintained by the Florida Department of Health," she continued, explaining that current pregnancy resources are scattered online and are difficult to locate.
The website would be headed up by Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, the leader of the Department of Health. Democratic Sen. Lori Berman raised concerns about Ladapo leading the pregnancy website, claiming that his handling of Broward County's Measles outbreak has caused her to doubt his capability of serving Florida.
"I have some concerns about our Surgeon General. I don't think that he's serving the people of Florida properly. I have significant problems with what's going on with the Measles outbreak in the Broward County area, and I don't think that we should rely upon him to be putting together this website," she said.
In public testimony, the group Democratic Women's Club of Florida criticized the website's inclusion of Crisis Pregnancy Centers as a pregnancy resource. Abortion advocates have opposed these clinics in the past, voicing worries about their unlicensed workers and calling them "fake clinics" with an anti-abortion, "harmful agenda".
"These centers allow unlicensed individuals to perform medical tests and give medically inaccurate indoctrination to someone undecided about whether to have an abortion. Crisis pregnancy centers should be regulated and inspected," the member said.
Earlier this session, Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book proposed two bills attempting to regulate these clinics. Neither was ever scheduled for a committee meeting, effectively killing both bills.
In her close on the bill, Grall explained that her bill is designed to bring families together and provide mothers with the resources they may not have. "This bill offers families a connectivity that does not exist right now within the framework of our state."
SB 436 passed down party lines and will head to the Senate Floor. Its House companion has already passed the House chamber.
