GOP lawmaker: God told me to remove rape exceptions from my anti-abortion bill

Florida state Rep. Mike Hill (R) thinks God talks to him and even directs the kinds of legislation he introduces into the state legislature.

Speaking at an event for the Women for Responsible Legislation in Pensacola, Hill talked about an anti-abortion bill he introduced earlier this year, which mirrored the recent Alabama bill that was signed into law. The bill Hill initially introduced included exceptions for rape, incest, domestic violence, human trafficking, and if the mother’s life is in danger. But according to Hill, God told him the bill wasn’t restrictive enough.

“As plain as day, God spoke to me,” Hill said, according to the Pensacola News Journal. “He said that wasn’t my bill, talking about the heartbeat detection bill that I filed. He said that wasn’t my bill. I knew immediately what He was talking about.”

Hill, who is an evangelical Christian, says that the initial exceptions were only there to ensure that the bill would pass. Even though it picked up 20 co-sponsors, it died without getting a hearing in any committee.

Hill told the group in Pensacola that he plans to bring the bill back as God intended it, “without any exceptions.”

“[God] said, ‘you remove those exceptions and you file it again,'” he said. “And I said ‘yes Lord, I will.’ It’s coming back. It’s coming back. We are going to file that bill without any exceptions, just like what we saw passed in Alabama.”

Alabama’s abortion law does allow for one exception: if the mother’s life is at risk. The law, which goes into effect in 6 months, will consider abortions performed absent a medical emergency a felony punishable by up to 99 years in prison.

Florida Democrats are vowing to fight against Hill’s bill if he reintroduces it.

“Florida politicians should know better than to give this bill a hearing in our State Capitol,” Rep. Anna V. Eskamani (D) tweeted. “We’ll be there in the thousands to protest.”

Featured image: screen grab/Fox News Insider

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.