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Governor Rick Scott speaks at CPAC Florida in 2011.Gage Skidmore / Flickr

TALLAHASSEE, Florida, March 29, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – The governor of Florida has signed one of the most comprehensive regulations of the abortion industry, depriving Planned Parenthood of taxpayer funds, tightening health regulations, and punishing the sale of aborted babies' limbs and tissue.

The bill, H.B. 1411, cuts most state funding for Planned Parenthood by not allowing the state to enter into new Medicaid contracts with facilities that perform abortion.

That would deprive Planned Parenthood of a little less than $200,000. The ACLU announced on Friday that it had not yet decided whether to sue the state.

When Governor Rick Scott signed the bill last Friday, Florida became the 12th state to cut or greatly reduce funding for Planned Parenthood. Other states to do so include Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin.

Cecile Richards, CEO of Planned Parenthood, said, “This cruel bill is designed to rip health care away from those most at risk.”

But pro-life leaders applauded Gov. Scott.

“Florida is right to redirect funds away from Planned Parenthood, a scandal-ridden abortion business that doesn’t provide comprehensive health care services for women,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Elissa Graves, who provided written testimony on behalf of the bill. “Taxpayer dollars shouldn’t go to organizations with an extensive track record of abusive and potentially fraudulent billing practices, that have been caught in authenticated undercover videos negotiating prices for the body parts of babies, and that have repeatedly failed to report the sexual abuse of girls.”

She said that funding Planned Parenthood is “not necessary” to further women's health, and the controversial abortion provider is “certainly not worthy of Florida’s trust.”

Perhaps more consequential than its Planned Parenthood funding provision is a requirement that mirrors one passed by Texas. The new law steps up health rules by requiring that abortionists have admitting privileges at or a transfer agreement to a nearby hospital and mandating that abortion facilities meet the same safety standards as other ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs). The Supreme Court will decide the fate of the Texas regulations this summer.

The Florida law enacts a host of other pro-life provisions. It requires the state to inspect at least half of all the state's abortion facilities every year, a concern raised by Dr. Kermit Gosnell, whose abortion facility had not been inspected in years at the time of his arrest.

Some pro-life organizations took offense at the low-key way the governor enacted the bill, issuing no signing statement as he adopted this bill and 67 more on Good Friday.

The Florida Family Policy Council (FFPC) chided Gov. Scott, a Republican, for refusing to use his executive authority to end taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood, something the governor said he lacked the ability to do.

After he signed the bill, the group said other state legislators deserved the praise.

“We are so grateful to the Republican leadership in the Florida House and Florida Senate for making this happen. They collectively did what the governor failed to do, namely, provided leadership on this critical issue and made it happen,” said FFPC President John Stemberger. “We are nonetheless pleased that Governor Scott did follow the Florida legislature’s lead in this matter and signed this important bill into law.”

The law also strengthens the punishment for improper disposal of aborted fetal body parts and tissue, making an infraction a first-degree misdemeanor that could cost the facility its license.

It punishes the sale of fetal organs. However, it makes clear abortion facilities may charge the”reasonable costs” of storing and facilitating the transfer of such tissue. Planned Parenthood has said the fees it charged biological researchers all fell within this category, although the Center for Medical Progress has said the abortion facility's actual costs are virtually non-existent.

The nation will have a better idea of how many women have abortions and why, as the law requires abortionists to file an official report each month disclosing the number of abortions they performed and the reasons women gave for having the procedure.

Finally, the law ended a simmering dispute, allowing the Agency for Health Care Administration to drop complaints against three Planned Parenthood abortion facilities – located in Ft. Myers, Naples, and St. Petersburg – for performing abortions after the first trimester without the proper license. The new law defines the first trimester as the 11 weeks following fertilization.

Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida CEO Barbara Zdravecky said the case “caused Planned Parenthood to devote considerable time and resources to frivolous and unwarranted charges when such resources could have been devoted to providing additional care.”

The law will go into effect July 1.