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Republicans belong to the party of personal responsibility. Republicans belong to the party of limited government. Republicans belong to the party that respects constitutional rights. Republicans belong to the party that works for affordable insurance rates. Republicans belong to the party that just says no to trial lawyers.

But it appears there is a nefarious plan under way in Tallahassee to infiltrate the Republican Party and subvert those bedrock principles. How else to explain HB 19, which last week passed a House subcommittee on a mostly party-line vote?

If this bill becomes law, a woman who has an abortion would have up to 10 years to sue her doctor if she suffers physical or psychological harm and feels the doctor did not adequately inform her of such hazards before performing the procedure.

This is a vast expansion of the existing four-year limit to sue under medical malpractice limit.

The bill's sponsor is Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach. All nine representatives who voted for the bill are Republicans. Two Republicans crossed party lines to join five Democrats voting against the bill.

The intent of this bill is obvious. Supporters want to make it harder for doctors to provide safe, legal abortions, which are a constitutional right in America. To make providing safe, legal abortions harder, opponents are conspiring to increase the cost of malpractice insurance and subject doctors who perform abortions to more lawsuits.

To accomplish that goal, they are willing to shift personal responsibility for decision-making about abortions to the doctor and away from the woman who decides to have an abortion. If she decides, many years after the abortion, that she regrets her decision, she would be encouraged, under this law, to belatedly find fault with her doctor.

I have no doubt there are women who regret their decision to have an abortion. But there is no evidence this is an epidemic that needs to be addressed by this legislation or, in fact, would be effectively addressed by this legislation. If Republicans in the Florida Legislature are going to get into the business of letting people blame others for decisions they come to regret, then why stop with doctors?

I would imagine many women, before deciding to have an abortion or not to have an abortion consult with a range of people. They might talk to friends, relatives, financial advisers, psychologists or astrologers. Why not open all of them up to 10 years of lawsuits? Because Republicans believe in personal responsibility. Usually.

It's obvious what's going on here. Republicans pushing this bill and other abortion restrictions think no woman ever should have an abortion. I trust that if Rep. Grall or another of this measure's supporters were consulted by a woman considering having an abortion, their advice would be, "Don't!"

As advice, that's fine, particularly in cases where a friend has sought an opinion. And if they wanted to cite the potential for regret as an important element of their argument, that would be appropriate.

But the strategy is not just to provide advice. The strategy is to stop women from getting abortions. Further, the goal is to stop women these lawmakers haven't even met from having abortions. So they have no idea whether the decision they are attempting to force on these women by denying the option of a safe, legal abortion is the appropriate decision. Sure, women can regret having an abortion. But they also can regret not having an abortion.

What if the woman can't afford another child? What if a woman can't cope with another child? What if the woman would have to quit her job? What if she would have to drop out of college? What if, for any number of reasons, having a child would make a marriage untenable?

If this measure becomes law, it will do more than offer optional advice. It will, by discouraging doctors and clinics from offering safe, legal abortions, take options away from women. To pass it, Republicans would have to ignore a whole list of principles. To justify doing so, they might argue that abortion is life-and-death. Well, health care also is life-and-death. That hasn't stopped the GOP citing its dedication to small government and less spending from vowing to end Obamacare. If protecting life is the most basic principle, Republicans should apply it to health care as well.

Contact Jac Wilder VerSteeg at jwvcolumn@gmail.com.

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When issue is abortion, Republicans drop principles | Opinion - Sun Sentinel