Rep. Mike Hill says he will propose Florida abortion ban modeled after Alabama's new law

Florida Rep. Mike Hill told a group in Pensacola on Thursday that God told him to sponsor a bill next year to ban nearly all abortions, much like the bill that passed in Alabama earlier this month.

Hill sponsored a bill in the Florida Legislature this session that would have banned abortions if a fetal heartbeat was detected. Although the bill picked up 20 co-sponsors, it died without ever getting a hearing in any committee.

Speaking at a meeting of Women for Responsible Legislation at Pensacola City Hall, Hill said the fetal heartbeat bill was modeled on other states that had passed similar bills and included exceptions for rape, incest, domestic violence, human trafficking or if the woman's life is in danger.

The Republican lawmaker said he wasn't happy with the exceptions in the bill, but thought it would make it more palatable and give it a better chance of passing.

"I'm going to say this, even though I know the press is here," said Hill, the representative for District 1, who includes the northern two-thirds of Escambia County.

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Hill said that he was at an anti-abortion rally a few weeks ago in Pensacola and while the keynote speaker was delivering a speech, God spoke to him.

"As plain as day, God spoke to me," Hill said. "He said that wasn't my bill, talking about the heartbeat detection bill that I filed. He said that wasn't my bill. I knew immediately what he was talking about. He said, you remove those exceptions and you file it again. And I said yes Lord, I will. It's coming back. It's coming back. We are going to file that bill without any exceptions just like what we saw passed in Alabama."

The group of close to 20 people in the room applauded and cheered Hill's remarks.

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Earlier this month, the Alabama Legislature passed a bill that was signed into law by Gov. Kay Ivey that bans nearly all abortions, with the only exception being if a woman's health is in danger. The law has drawn national outcry from abortion-rights supporters and even some anti-abortion advocates who say that it goes too far. 

President Donald Trump tweeted after the law passed, saying he supports abortion laws that have exceptions for rape and incest.

Alabama's law is expected to be challenged in court.

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Hill also said if his fetal heartbeat bill had been given a hearing during the recent legislative session, it would have passed. He said he had 21 confirmed yes votes in the 40-member Florida Senate and believes every Republican in the Florida House would have voted yes.

Hill said he was told the bill didn't get a hearing because it wasn't a legislative priority for the leadership.

"The priorities were health care, transportation and the Everglades," Hill said. "All of that, you know, which are important, but life is of preeminence import. Without life, you won't even have a need for all this other stuff."

He said he also heard other objections from Republicans who expressed that the state didn't need to fight a lawsuit.

"Another reason I heard, was that we only needed to file one pro-life bill per session and it should be run by a female," Hill said.

Hill added he disagreed with that argument and questioned why the bill needed to be sponsored by woman.

"They said, 'Well it seems to be accepted more, particularly during debate when a woman is presenting it,'" Hill said. "I said, wait a minute, a hundred percent of all pregnancies are caused by a man, so why can't a man be involved in this? And that child that is there, 50% chance it's going to be a man. Why can't a man present this? That doesn't hold any water with me at all."

Florida's next legislative session begins in January 2020, but legislative committees will begin meeting in the fall.

Jim Little can be reached at jwlittle@pnj.com and 850-208-9827.