The Florida House on Thursday approved a bill that would ban most abortions after six weeks, legislation Gov. Ron DeSantis has indicated he supports as he prepares to enter the 2024 Republican presidential primary.
The bill would make Florida one of the most restrictive states in the country to obtain an abortion and follows moves by other Republican-led states to swiftly to curb the procedure since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer. The measure, which passed the state Senate on April 3, now heads to DeSantis’ desk for his signature.
Under the bill, most abortions in Florida would be banned after six weeks. Opponents of the legislation have argued that six weeks is before many women know that they are pregnant.
“Let’s be clear about the silent part: You just don’t want women to have choice,” House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, a Tampa Democrat, said Thursday during debate on the bill.
Victims of rape, incest and human trafficking could obtain an abortion up to 15 weeks into a pregnancy, under the legislation, if the woman provides a restraining order, police report, medical record or other evidence.
The bill would also ban doctors from prescribing an abortion via telehealth and require medication for abortion be dispensed by a physician, not by mail.
Supporters of the bill said they were protecting life.
“A woman’s right to choose, I’ve heard people talk about that. Well, that right to choose begins before you have sex,” state Rep. Kiyan Michael, a Jacksonville Republican, said Thursday. “It should not be after you have sex. “
Debate on Thursday began shortly after 9 a.m. and lasted for more than seven hours as Democrats, who are firmly in the minority in Florida’s legislature, filed dozens of amendments intended to blunt the bill’s impact and to protest the likely end…
Read the full article here