Roe v. Wade

March 2, 2010, CBS 47 / FOX 30 Jacksonville

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Republican State Rep. Charles Van Zant's Florida for Life Act would make all abortions illegal unless the procedure was needed to save the life of a woman.

“I simply believe we're given certain rights by our constitution…the first of these rights is life and that needs to be preserved. For 37 years we've violated our own constitution by destroying unborn Floridians and that needs to stop,” the representative from Keyston Heights said from Tallahassee.

March 1, 2010, WOKV.com

If you didn't think the state legislature was busy enough, how about an abortion battle???

State representative from Clay County Charles Van Zant has submitted a bill to outlaw nearly all abortions in the state.

"This bill is designed to protect the life of all Floridians. Including the unborn Floridians," Van Zant said.

His bill would return state laws to pre-Roe versus Wade, punishing women who have abortions and the doctors who provide them. It would make an exception only in cases where the mother's health is in danger.

February 28, 2010, Florida Times-Union / St. Augustine Record

A Clay County legislator’s plan to outlaw abortion in Florida has gained quick traction with the abortion opponents' community but faces numerous obstacles, from skeptical House colleagues to the U.S. Supreme Court.

State Rep. Charles Van Zant, R-Keystone Heights and a Baptist minister, filed a bill this month  that would make nearly all forms of abortion a first-degree felony for the provider, punishable by up to life in prison.

February 25, 2010, Gainesville Sun / Ocala Star Banner

Abortion providers, people who assist them, and operators of clinics where abortions occur could receive long prison sentences under a new bill that mandates a wide-ranging ban on the procedure.

The bill, offered recently by state Rep. Charles Van Zant, a Keystone Heights Republican whose district spans much of eastern Marion County, makes performing or assisting in an abortion a first-degree felony, which is punishable by up to life in prison.

February 23, 2010, AM850.com

Florida Representative Charles Van Zant is working hard to pass a bill that would ban abortion. Van Zant says it's important to protect the lives of those who can't protect themselves. Planned Parenthood State Director Stephanie Kunkel says she is unsure of Van Zant's motives for passing the bill. Kunkel says that if passed, this bill has the power to overturn Roe-V-Wade.

February 23, 2010, Ms. Magazine

A bill that would ban abortion in nearly all circumstances, without exception for rape or incest, was introduced late last week in the Florida state House. State Representative Charles Van Zant (R), a former Baptist minister, is sponsoring the bill, called the "Florida for Life Act". There are currently no House co-sponsors and there is not a Senate companion bill, according to Tallahasee.com.

January 23, 2010, Bradenton Herald

SARASOTA — The 37th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade ruling on abortion brought activists on both sides of the issue to the streets Friday.

January 22, 2010, Tallahassee Democrat

In January, 1973, the Supreme Court ruled that the right to privacy in the U.S. Constitution protects the right of a woman to choose whether to continue a pregnancy to term or to have an abortion.

Yet, 37 years later we face the remarkable possibility that the United States Congress will enact health care reform legislation that singles out abortion from all other medical procedures, with unprecedented and unnecessary restrictions.

Indeed, these restrictions threaten not only to prevent women who will gain access to health insurance from obtaining abortion coverage, but could also result in women losing coverage they currently have. In effect these restrictions chip away at the rights that women and men have fought for and essentially move women backward rather than forward.