Florida lawmakers, already well-known for proposing bills that would allow parents to sue a school if classroom instruction caused students “discomfort, guilt or anguish,” have taken the next logical step. In a special session on Sunday, they passed a law that prohibits obstetricians from informing their patients that giving birth is likely to be a physically uncomfortable experience. Doctors will be allowed to tell women that they could feel a “slight pressure” in their pelvic region as the baby travels through the birth canal, but any references to actual pain are forbidden and punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 and two years in jail.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has promised to sign the legislation as soon as it reaches his desk. As he put it, “no self-respecting physician should ever say anything remotely scary to a patient. This is especially the case with childbirth. Doctors should focus on the unmitigated joy of having a newborn emerge from one’s hoo-ha, not the temporary unpleasantness of the journey. Emphasizing the negative will discourage women from getting pregnant, and THEN where will we be? I’ll tell you where: the end of the human race, bucko! Why do you think dinosaurs stopped having babies?”