TALLAHASSEE (LifeSiteNews) — Florida Republicans have finally introduced legislation to ban abortion at six weeks of pregnancy, making good on promises to build upon the Sunshine State’s existing pro-life protections.
SB 300 “prohibit[s] physicians from knowingly performing or inducing a termination of pregnancy after the gestational age of the fetus is determined to be more than 6 weeks, rather than 15 weeks” as is current law, unless a woman produces evidence that the abortion is being sought due to rape or incest. Rape and incest would continue to not be recognized as valid reasons for abortion past 15 weeks.
Although not specified in the bill’s text, six weeks is approximately when a preborn baby’s heartbeat can first be detected.
The bill also appropriates up to $30 million to strengthen Florida’s parenting support services for up to one year after childbirth and forbids abortionists from using telehealth services to facilitate chemical abortions remotely.
DeSantis has previously affirmed he would sign a six-week ban into law and reiterated his support on Tuesday, Politico reports.
For months, pro-life activists have expressed concern that, despite its Republican legislative majorities and conservative leadership under Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida’s abortion laws were not as strong as other states, resulting in people traveling to the state for abortions they cannot get elsewhere.
DeSantis is pro-life; he has previously ousted a state prosecutor for refusing to enforce pro-life laws, supported state efforts to defund abortion centers, and warned state pharmacies that selling abortion pills was illegal. But Florida’s lack of a heartbeat law led some to question his commitment to the issue.
DeSantis’s office told LifeSiteNews in July that further action was planned upon resolution of legal challenges to the state’s 15-week law, which is currently being enforced but is still awaiting a final decision on its constitutionality. To account for this issue, SB 300 contains language providing that it will take effect 30 days after the Republican-dominated Florida Supreme Court upholds the state constitutionality of prohibiting abortion.
The ability of states to directly ban abortion for the first time in half a century has sparked a flurry of activity across the country. Planned Parenthood has suspended abortions and/or closed locations in reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe last summer, and pro-life attorneys general have declared their intentions to enforce their states’ duly enacted abortion prohibitions.
But leftists prosecutors in various localities have vowed not to enforce such laws, and pro-abortion activists have refocused efforts on interstate distribution of abortion pills, supporting interstate travel for abortion, and enshrining “rights” to abortion in state constitutions, effectively insulating the practice from ordinary state legislation.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has called on Congress to codify a “right” to abortion in federal law, which would not only restore but expand upon the Roe status quo by making it illegal for states to pass virtually any pro-life laws. Democrats currently lack the votes to do so, but whether they get those votes is sure to be one of the major issues of the 2024 elections.
Now in his second term, DeSantis has established a record as arguably the most proactive conservative governor in the nation, which has generated significant interest in him as a possible candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.