Throughout this year’s session, the Republican-controlled Florida legislature has pushed through several pieces of legislation that are considered big policy wins for GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis.
As the session comes to a close Friday – and as the countdown for DeSantis to jump into the 2024 presidential race begins – here’s a breakdown of the key bills DeSantis has already signed and a look ahead at the measures, ushered through by the legislature’s Republican supermajority, that await his signature.
A measure dubbed the Heartbeat Protection Act, signed by DeSantis in a closed-door ceremony last month, prohibits physicians from knowingly performing abortions after six weeks in most cases.
Exceptions for rape, incest and human trafficking exist for up to 15 weeks into a pregnancy, but there is a caveat: Women “must provide a copy of a restraining order, police report, medical record, or other court order or documentation providing evidence.” Additionally, after six weeks, two physicians can certify in writing that the abortion is necessary to save the woman’s life or to “avert a serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function.”
At a March news conference, DeSantis called the proposed exceptions “sensible.”
Though enacted, the six-week ban won’t take effect until 30 days after the state Supreme Court either overturns its previous precedent on abortion or tosses out cases from Planned Parenthood and abortion rights activists challenging the existing 15-week abortion ban.
In April, DeSantis unceremoniously signed legislation authorizing concealed carry without a permit in Florida.
Under the law, which will take effect July 1, gun owners are allowed to carry a gun in public without a government-issued permit.
“You don’t need a permission slip…
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