An abortionist who illegally kills an unborn baby in Florida can be fined just $5,000, but someone who restrains and abandons a dog during a natural disaster can be fined double that amount.
(LifeSiteNews) -- On May 28, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law Trooper’s Law, which makes it a third degree felony to restrain and abandon a dog outside during a natural disaster. This law was inspired by the rescue of a chained dog by Florida Highway Patrol during last year’s Hurricane Milton.
Certainly, no pet should be cruelly treated nor abandoned to die, and Trooper’s Law aims to protect “man’s best friend” from cruelty. But it is outrageous that the penalty for an abortionist who performs an illegal abortion in Florida is actually less severe than that meted out to an offender of Trooper’s Law.
Both offenses are categorized as third degree felonies punishable by up to five years in prison. However, an abortionist who commits an illegal abortion is fined only up to $5,000 while an offender of Trooper’s Law may be fined $10,000. By contrast, in Texas, an illegal abortion, categorized as a second degree felony, can carry a fine as high as $100,000 and up to 99 years in prison, and Texas is prosecuting offenders.
Much compassion for abused animals, less for aborted preborn childrenDo Florida legislators and our governor believe that the life of a dog has greater intrinsic value than the life of an unborn child? Of course not – no one would suggest such a thing. However, our legislators and governor are sending the wrong message to the people of Florida regarding their sincerity in protecting the life of a preborn child. By creating a law that gives a more severe penalty to a person who kills an animal than an abortionist who kills a preborn baby, they are feeding into society's growing compassion for animals at the expense of compassion for human beings.
Human persons are created in "Imago Dei," the image of God, and possess rational souls capable of knowing and loving our Creator. Because of this, human persons are elevated above animals in intrinsic value and dignity. Granting an animal more value than a human person is inherently contrary to God’s law and to natural law.
Yet, we are constantly inundated with commercials about abused animals: dogs, cats, whales, and turtles all need rescuing. Where is the commercial depicting a preborn child being sucked out of his mother's womb then dumped in a red-colored vinyl bag emblazoned with the words, HAZARD WASTE? There is none. Commercials depicting abortions are not permitted to be seen by the viewing public. Aborted children are the forgotten ones. They are the "silent scream" in the womb. They are the ones our legislators and governor choose to forget. The offices of Governor DeSantis and Rep. Persons-Mulicka, the legislator who sponsored Florida’s Heartbeat Protection Act, have not responded to requests for comment.
Abortions remain sky-high in Florida, on pace for more than 50,000 in 2025Instead of taking a leadership role to end abortion in Florida, Governor DeSantis and the Republican-controlled legislature appear satisfied with only reducing abortions. Those who spend time counseling and praying outside abortion facilities across Florida simply have not witnessed the anticipated sharp reduction in traffic following the passage of the six-week Heartbeat Protection Act, which went into effect May 1, 2024, and decreased the limit from 15 weeks. Official data from Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) substantiates these observations. Reported abortions are down 38 percent this year. But with 13,951 abortions reported during the first three months of this year, Florida is on pace for more than 50,000 recorded abortions per year.
Due to online mail-order access to the abortion pill, the number of abortions is actually much higher than what is officially being reported. Scott Baier, CEO of Florida’s Community Pregnancy Clinics, Inc., oversees five life-affirming pregnancy resource clinics, which see thousands of patients each year and have helped saved over 24,000 babies from abortion since 1974. Baier asserts that due to the ease of ordering abortion pills online, "the number of actual abortions occurring in Florida would shock most people. One patient who came to us for help after taking the abortion pill had 47 abortion pills in her purse that she had acquired online."
Florida constitution, laws protect the preborn, yet abortion laws permit mass child killingPreborn children are already afforded constitutional protection in the Florida state constitution as well as under the 14th Amendment in the U.S. Constitution. Article 1, Section 2 of the Florida state constitution grants “all natural persons” equality before the law and affirms the inalienable right to life, and Article 1, Section 9 grants all persons due process. There are many precedents where preborn children are considered persons under existing Florida law: numerous Florida criminal statutes, trust and estate laws, guardianship laws, incarceration laws and tort laws recognize legal protection for the “unborn child” or “unborn person.” However, constitutional protection for preborn children is clearly not translated into laws on abortion. Instead, the state sanctions their mass murder.
Governor DeSantis could start to fix this situation with an executive order affirming the constitutional personhood of preborn children. Such an action would compel the Florida Supreme Court, and likely the U.S. Supreme Court, to address the reality that the preborn child is a person deserving constitutional protection in all circumstances.
The death of an innocent abandoned dog is unquestionably sad. But the death of each and every one of the more than 50,000 innocent children aborted each year in Florida is an abomination that must end, and end completely. God will not bless us if we continue to allow the mass killing of those He has lovingly created in His image.
