Florida Republicans will likely hand $25 million to anti-abortion pregnancy centers in the coming days and the GOP-controlled state Senate just killed a measure that would have ensured state oversight of those centers.

The $25 million annual allotment of Florida taxpayer money is tucked into the six-week abortion ban thats quickly moving through the state legislature and could land on Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis desk as early as next week. Democrats know they have little power to stop the bills, so many are filing amendments in an attempt to make a severely restrictive bill less extreme.

Democratic state Sen. Lori Berman filed an amendment to the Senate bill on Wednesday, seeking to impose three requirements on the millions in state funding.

The amendment called for all the organizations that received funding to use only licensed ultrasound technicians, comply with patient confidentiality requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and conduct annual financial audits of each organization that receives any of the state funding.

I would like to enshrine this in law. It shouldnt be a problem, Berman said Thursday afternoon on the Senate floor. As good stewards of our taxpayer dollars, lets enshrine this in law and make sure that they are doing these things to protect the people who go to the clinics.

The majority-Republican body voted down the amendment.

Audits are being done regularly, pursuant to other state law, and these organizations are being held accountable with monthly monitoring, said Republican Sen. Erin Grall, the sponsor of the bill. There is not a need for this amendment at this time.

Republicans argue that the $25 million will be used for services to support pregnant women and their children, including offering critical goods like diapers and formula which in part may be true. But anti-abortion pregnancy centers, sometimes referred to as crisis pregnancy centers, are known for peddling misinformation based on religious rhetoric that is not medically accurate.