House GOP Urges Crist to Sign Abortion Bill

House Republicans are turning up the heat on Gov. Charlie Crist and urging him to support HB 1143, the bill passed late in session prohibiting public funds to pay for elective abortions and requiring ultrasounds for women considering having an abortion in the first trimester.

Unlike some social conservative groups like the Florida Family Policy Council and Florida Right to Life, the House Republicans are playing up the public funding aspect and not the ultrasounds in their most recent release.

This bill extends a long-standing policy of our nation and our state prohibiting tax dollars being used to fund elective abortions, said Rep. Kelli Stargel of Lakeland in a statement released by the House Majority Office on Monday afternoon. Whether you are pro-choice or pro-life, taking money from the pockets of Floridians to fund abortions should not be the policy in our state, and I urge the governor to sign this bill.

Crist is playing coy as to whether he will sign the measure or veto it.