Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/115375
Sarasota News Leader March 15, 2013 OPINION it appears the intent of this proposed law's authors is to disguise their effort by titling the bills, "Unborn Victims of Violence," and claiming the intention is to reduce domestic violence. The bills also are troubling constitutionally because they remove the scienter, or "knowledge and intent" requirement, for all offenses enumerated in them. That means there is no requirement to prove that the perpetrator knew or should have known about the victim's pregnancy or that there was an intent to cause harm to, or destroy, the fetus. Domestic violence is a serious concern in our state. Yet, the Legislature has seen fit to curtail spending for shelters for victims of domestic violence and other proactive efforts to reduce its incidence. With these bills, it further mocks the real victims of domestic violence by focusing solely on harm done to a fertilized ovum. These are not the only bills introduced in the Legislature to limit access by women to legal abortions, but they are some of the worst. And they demonstrate the ongoing animosity displayed by legislators against the women of the state, in the continued effort to limit women's rights and imperil their health. In a time when the state is struggling to recover from the effects of the Great Recession and many Floridians are searching in vain for meaningful employment; when the environ- Page 65 ment of the state is so woefully neglected that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has assumed authority over 85 percent of the state's waterways; when millions of property owners face economic ruin from a catastrophic hurricane because of the dysfunction in the state's insurance industry; and when health insurance still is beyond the reach of millions because the Legislature will not accept the Affordable Care Act as the law of the land, it is especially frustrating that legislators continue to engage in hateful, misogynistic tactics that hurt half of our residents and hold us up to ridicule in the rest of the country and the civilized world. % LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Sarasota News Leader welcomes letters to the editor from its readers. Letters should be no more than 300 words in length, and include the name, street address and telephone number of the writer. Letters should be emailed to Letters@SarasotaNewsLeader.com, with "Letter to the Editor" in the subject line. Letters actually printed will be selected based on space available, subject matter and other factors. We reserve the right to edit any letters submitted for length, grammar, spelling, etc. All letters submitted become the property of The Sarasota News Leader.