Bill protecting pregnant women facing felonies advances in House

Share
Rep. Dianne Hart (D) in the Florida House. Credit: The Florida Channel April 2023

Listen:

A bill advanced on Tuesday in the state house that would provide increased protections for pregnant women in the criminal justice system. WMNF’s Chris Young reports that the bill stems from the death of a baby born in a Florida jail.

Tampa Democratic House Representative Dianne Hart presented a bill, called “Ava’s Law”, in a house subcommittee. The bill allows a pregnant woman convicted of a felony to petition the court to defer her sentence for up to 12 weeks after she gives birth.

“I drafted this piece of legislation after newborn named Ava died in August of 2021. Shortly after her mother, Erica Thompson, gave birth in an Alachua County jail. Thompson gave birth alone in her cell, her child Ava was then transferred to the hospital, but later died.”

Democratic Representative Susan Valdés voiced her support of the bill.

“This particular bill will save babies. And these babies, as we all know, they weren’t asked to be here. For some unfortunate situations that may have occurred, and that baby succumbed to death by neglect, is a very sad thing.”

The bill advanced on a vote of 14-1. Pinellas County Republican Representative Berny Jacques was the only vote against the bill.

Leave a Reply

  • (will not be published)

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

You may also like

student meal
Next school year Hillsborough public schools are offering free meals

Hillsborough Public Schools are offering students free meals for the...

Correspondence Through Poetry. A Mind-Numbing Week.

Father Verses Sons: A Correspondence in Poems by Herbert Gold...

The sound of change: Music’s influence on anti-war and human rights movements

Throughout history, music has served as a powerful catalyst for...

a man in a tye dye shirt talking on a radio microphone
Recreational pot for Florida is on the ballot this fall—let’s talk about it

In four months, Florida voters have the opportunity to vote...

Ways to listen

WMNF is listener-supported. That means we don't advertise like a commercial station, and we're not part of a university.

Ways to support

WMNF volunteers have fun providing a variety of needed services to keep your community radio station alive and kickin'.

Follow us on Instagram

True Talk
Player position: