The Florida Senate could vote as soon as Wednesday on a bill that would require woman to have an ultrasound before they can get an abortion.
Supporters of the bill say that it would help women make a more informed choice about their abortion if they look at a sonogram before they decide if they will have an abortion. But one of the lead supporters of the bill Senator Dan Webster (R-Winter Green) says he hopes it prevents some women from having abortions.
"And if they choose to keep that unborn child until birth, I'd be happy," Webster said.
He stressed that women would be able to opt out of seeing the sonogram. But if they did that then they wouldn't be able to get Medicaid funding in cases of rape and incest.
Opponents of the bill say this would increase the cost of abortions and put it out of reach of many poor women. They also say that the bill is too much government interference in woman's choices.
"This bill is about, I believe, blatant government interference," Sen. Nan Rich, D-Weston, said to the Sarasota-Herald Tribune, "It is also insulting to women who should be the ones responsible for making decisions about their lives and bodies with the professional judgment of their doctors. The state should not be the one telling a woman what she needs to do to make an informed choice."
A similar version of the bill that would make woman who are having an abortion in their first trimester of pregnancy has already passed the House. However it is expected to be a very close vote with senators switching votes back and forth making it hard to tell which way the vote will go. If it does pass the two bills would have to become identical before they could be sent to the governor who has been equally cryptic about whether or not he will approve it.