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Last winter, just as the state’s highest court was about to rule that a girl in an "irreversible vegetative state" should be removed from life support, 14-year-old Haleigh Poutre started to breathe on her own. Haleigh, who spent the past two years at a pediatric rehabilitation hospital in Brighton, Mass., suffered a near-fatal head injury in September 2005. Communicating with simple words and hand gestures and by spelling out full sentences by pointing to alphabet letters on a board Haleigh in December described to police the intense physical abuse she allegedly suffered at the hands of her adoptive mother and stepfather, Holli and Jason Strickland, The Boston Globe reported on Tuesday. Incidentally, Haleigh’s sister, Samantha Poutre, has given police a new statement about Haleigh’s injury, which put her in a coma. Samantha initially told investigators that Haleigh was practicing a back flip when she hit her head on a basement pipe, according to defense lawyers. Now, Samantha is saying that Jason Strickland kicked Haleigh down a flight of stairs. Haleigh would not give investigators specifics about the events surrounding her injury. She only said that the Stricklands used corporal punishment regularly during her childhood. Jason Strickland brought a bruised and unconscious Haleigh to the emergency room of Noble Hospital in Westfield, Mass., on Sept. 11, 2005. He told medical professionals she had become unresponsive after suffering flu-like symptoms. The Department of Social Services took custody of the Stricklands’ two other children within two days; one week later the couple was criminally charged with assault and battery in connection with Haleigh’s injury, according to the newspaper. Prosecutors described Holli Strickland as the harsher of the two abusers, although Haleigh expressed fond feelings of her adoptive mother, whom she has lived with since she was 4. Then, a day after being released on bail, Holli Strickland died of gunshot wounds; police believe it was a murder-suicide incident involving Holli Strickland’s grandmother. Jason Strickland’s defense lawyer, Alan Black, indicated in court records that he will question Haleigh’s mental competence due to the severity of her injury. The case is set to go to trial this fall.
Girl in Vegetative State Gives Abuse Testimony
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TALLAHASSEE - A proposed law asking a woman to look at an ultrasound image of her fetus before having an abortion in Florida was defeated by a tie vote in the Senate Wednesday after nearly two hours of passionate debate.
J.D. Alexander - R-lake wales
YES
paula dockery - R-lakeland
NO
ronda storms - R-Brandon
YES
"A woman making the decision that she wants to abort, that decision should be honored. She shouldn't have to go through more hoops imposed by government to give her a granted constitutional right," said Sen. Jim King, R-Jacksonville, who voted against the bill. "We should not impede that decision and we should certainly - we should certainly - not impede the relationship between the treating physician and the woman seeking the service."
Steeped in reproductive choice and small-government sentiments, the legislation formed an unusual alliance between some pro-life Republicans and pro-choice Democrats that ultimately led to its demise.
The bill needed at least 21 votes to pass the Senate, which has 26 Republicans and 14 Democrats. It failed 20-20, with 7 Republicans voting against it and one Democrat voting for it.
It was a crushing defeat for conservatives who had never gotten further with the measure they have worked for years to pass, and some of them said they will try again to pass it in the future. While the House has passed the ultrasound bill the past two legislative sessions, this was the first time it made it to the Senate floor, largely because of its powerful sponsor, Majority Leader Daniel Webster.
"Didn't I say 50/50?" said Webster, R-Winter Garden, who has called those odds on the vote for the past week. "Next year, it will be easier to do."
The proposed law would have required any woman seeking an abortion to first have an ultrasound and to sign a waiver if she did not want to see the fetal image. Women who could prove they were victims of rape and incest would be exempted from the requirement. Three states have such a law - Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi - according to the reproductive rights group, the Guttmacher Institute.
Currently, Florida requires pregnant women to have ultrasounds only in the second and third trimesters.
The House sponsor of the legislation, Rep. Anthony Traviesa, R-Tampa, viewed the tie vote in the Senate positively, and vowed to continue pushing the measure.
"It suggests to me that the tide is turning," Traviesa said. "And we won't quit. We'll come back year after year after year, and we will get this done."
Pro-choice advocates praised the failure of the bill that they said would restrict women's access to abortion and disproportionately impact poor women, who use the measure most often, by raising the cost of an abortion up to $250.
Adrienne Kimmell, executive director of Florida Association of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, said she hopes rather than trying again with the ultrasound legislation, the Legislature will pursue family planning and sexual education policies to reduce the number of abortions.
"This bill does nothing to reduce unintended pregnancies and to reduce abortions," Kimmell said. "It is the newest in anti-choice legislation."
About 95,000 abortions a year are performed in Florida.
Supporters of mandating an ultrasound for women seeking an abortion in the first trimester - when the majority of abortions are performed - say it would help women make more informed medical decisions and hope it may change their minds.
"This debate is about abortion: it's about whether you're pro life or pro-choice. I am pro-life," Sen. Alex de la Portilla, R-Miami, said during debate. "If this bill will eliminate just one abortion in this state, it will make me proud."
Senators who argued against the bill Wednesday, including Republicans who voted for a ban on partial birth abortion and for parental notification laws, disagreed.
"This is not a pro-life or pro-choice issue. This is a freedom issue, and we should not be telling women in the state of Florida what they need to do with their bodies," said Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, who says she is pro-life.
Other lawmakers who voted against the bill called it an unfunded mandate on poor women, and said it would be an intrusion in right to privacy. Sen. Burt Saunders, R-Naples, likened the situation to the right-to-die case of Terry Schiavo.
"In some respects this is very similar," Saunders said. "The law of the land is that women have a constitutional right to have an abortion. That's embodied in Roe v. Wade, and until that's changed I think it's a mistake for the Legislature to start talking about ways to restrict that."
In the last of his 28 years in the Legislature, Webster made passing the abortion bill a top goal.
After 16 senators spoke about the bill - five in favor of it and 11 against it - Webster gave a six-minute plea for his colleagues' support.
In the end, he urged them to vote for it because of University of Florida quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner, Tim Tebow.
Webster said doctors told Tebow's mom to abort when she was pregnant with the future quarterback because medication she took when she was ill had harmed the fetus. She carried the baby to term.
"There may be other Timmy Tebows that if just the mom could just see the ultrasound," Webster said, "that's all we're doing is offering information that doesn't exist today."
Moments later his bill was defeated.
Fla. Senate Defeats Abortion Bill in a Tie
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