Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP)

Florida imposes a variety of burdensome requirements on abortion providers that are not imposed on other health care providers, including: 

Restrictions on Where Abortions May Be Performed

Florida places medically unnecessary restrictions on where abortions may be performed.

Any facility in which abortions are performed must obtain an "abortion clinic" license from the state; a yearly license costs $250. Fla. Stat. Ann. §§ 390.014(1), .014(3) (Enacted 1978; Last Amended 1991); Fla. Admin. Code Ann. r. 59A-9.020(1), .020(2). Hospitals and a physician's office are exempted from the licensure requirement, provided that the office is not used primarily for the performance of abortions. Fla. Stat. Ann. § 390.011(2) (Enacted 1979; Last Amended 1990).

The state requires clinics to maintain personal medical records of patients for a minimum of five years and specifies that they must be "systematically organized to facilitate storage and retrieval," but does not specify who may have access to the required records or what privacy protections the state affords patients whose records are inspected. Fla. Admin. Code Ann. r. 59A-9.031.

State officials have the right to enter any licensed facility, or any facility applying for a license, "at any reasonable time in order to determine the state of compliance" with regulations. Fla. Admin. Code Ann. r. 59A-9.021(4). No specific patient privacy-protection measures are outlined; the administrative rule simply says that the inspections must be made with the "least possible disruption to clinic activities and in a manner considerate of the privacy and confidentiality of any patient who is present therein." Fla. Admin. Code Ann. r. 59A-9.021(4).

In 2005, Florida adopted extensive additional new regulations that apply to providers of abortions after the first trimester. Fla. Stat. Ann. § 390.012 (Enacted 2005; Last Amended 2007).

Restrictions on Who May Perform Abortions

Florida prohibits certain qualified health care professionals from performing abortions.

Only a physician licensed by the state in medicine or osteopathy, or practicing medicine or osteopathy and employed by the U.S., may perform an abortion.  Fla. Stat. Ann. § 390.0111(2) (Enacted 1979; Last Amended 1999), Fla. Stat. Ann. § 390.011(7) (Enacted 1978; Last Renumbered 1998).

A court held that a previous version of this law was constitutional.  Wright v. State, 351 So. 2d 708 (Fla. 1977).