Florida - Monday April 3, 2023: The Florida Senate on Monday approved a bill to ban abortions after six weeks, a measure supported by Gov. Ron DeSantis as the Republican prepares to launch his expected presidential candidacy.
The vote was 26 to 13 with Senate Republicans voting overwhelmingly in favor of the ban, although Republican Sens. Alexis Calatayud of Miami and Corey Simon of Tallahassee broke from their party and voted with Democrats against the bill.
“Bodily autonomy should not give a person the permission to kill an innocent human being. We live in a time where the consequences of our actions are an afterthought and convenience has been substitution for responsibility, and this is unacceptable when it comes to the protection of the most vulnerable,” said Sen. Erin Grall, a Republican from Fort Pierce who sponsored the bill.
The proposal must still be approved by the House. Governor DeSantis has indicated that he is likely to sign it. The 6-week ban would only take effect if the state's current 15-week ban is upheld in an ongoing legal challenge that is before the state Supreme Court.
Democrats have conceded that they cannot stop the proposal from moving forward.
“The six-week ban is an insult to women and a direct attack on our fundamental and reproductive healthcare rights," said Democratic Senator Linda Stewart from Orange County. "Just over a year after reducing the number of weeks to obtain an abortion to 15, the legislature has once again decided to take up the issue of women’s bodily autonomy by looking to reduce the already limiting time constraint to a mere six-weeks.”
“A majority of Floridians support access to pregnancy terminating care, and this bill is a direct assault on the lives and freedoms of Floridians,” said Stewart.
The proposal allows exceptions to save the life of the woman and exceptions in the case of pregnancy caused by rape or incest until 15 weeks of pregnancy. In those cases, a woman would have to provide documentation such as a medical record, restraining order or police report. DeSantis has called the rape and incest provisions sensible.
It would also require that the drugs used in medication-induced abortions — which make up the majority of those provided nationally — could be dispensed only in person by a physician.
The bill would have larger implications for abortion access throughout the South, as the nearby states of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi prohibit the procedure at all stages of pregnancy and Georgia bans it after cardiac activity can be detected, which is around six weeks.
A six-week ban would more closely align Florida with the abortion restrictions of other Republican-controlled states and give DeSantis a political win on an issue important with GOP primary voters ahead of his potential White House run.
Republicans control a supermajority in the Legislature and have largely focused on DeSantis priorities during the ongoing legislative session. DeSantis is expected to announce his presidential candidacy after the session ends in May, with his potential White House run in part buoyed by the conservative policies approved in the statehouse this year.