“The silence is very noticeable, and it’s sad and disappointing,” said Sister Anita Baird, who serves on the board of directors for the National Black Sisters’ Conference.

Michael Sheedy, executive director of the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops, commented, “Not having sufficient expertise to know the true impact of the provisions, it would have been imprudent to take a position. At another level, we expected that if the bills were passed, the provisions would be challenged. In this case, the courts would be better suited to sort things out.”