Fla. senators block anti-abortion bill

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla., March 6 (UPI) -- A bipartisan coalition of Florida state senators blocked a controversial anti-abortion bill from being heard on the Senate floor.

A Senate vote of 23-16 Monday to hear the abortion bill fell short of the 26 votes needed for the Senate as a whole to consider the legislation that failed to emerge from committees to which it was assigned, The Miami Herald reported.

"The public is calling and screaming, pleading with us to concentrate on bills that give us jobs, put food on our table and lower our cost of living," said Sen. Evelyn Lynn, a Republican and one of six Republicans to join with Democrats to prevent the bill from being heard.

Among other things, the bill would have created a 24-hour waiting period for abortions and would have required physician ownership for new abortion clinics. It also would have required doctors to take three hours of unspecified ethics training.

Rules Chairman John Thrasher said he tried to bring the abortion bill to the Senate floor at the request of the bill's sponsor.