|
 The state's House of Representatives, which also has a Republican
majority, approved the measure last month on a party-line vote.
Final legislative passage on a 23-15 vote in the Senate sent the
bill to Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, who is expected to sign
the measure into law.
"Governor DeSantis is pro-life and has voiced support for the
concepts in this bill," his spokesperson, Christina Pushaw, said
earlier in the day.
Enactment of the bill would significantly reduce access to late-term
abortions for women across the U.S. Southeast, many of whom travel
hundreds of miles to end pregnancies in Florida because of stricter
abortion laws in surrounding states.
The state currently permits abortions within up to 24 weeks of
pregnancy without a mandatory waiting period, meaning a woman can
terminate her pregnancy the day she arrives at a clinic.
Florida's measure, which would take effect on July 1, makes
exceptions to the 15-week restriction only in cases when the mother
is at risk of death or "irreversible physical impairment," or if the
fetus has a fatal abnormality.
In a session on Wednesday, Republicans defeated an amendment that
would have made exceptions for rape, incest and human trafficking.
Democratic lawmakers who supported the amendment asked their
colleagues to focus on the emotional needs of pregnant victims of
sexual assault. "We're better than this," state Senator Victor
Torres said.
The bill's sponsor, state Senator Kelli Stargel, defended the bill's
exclusion of an exception for rape, saying she rejected the premise
that a "child should be killed because of the circumstances in which
it was conceived."
Republican lawmakers around the country have introduced bills
mirroring a 15-week abortion ban enacted by Mississippi and now
being weighed by the U.S. Supreme Court after lower courts blocked
the measure as unconstitutional. Arizona's Senate and West
Virginia's House passed similar 15-week abortion bans last month.
[to top of second column] |
 Some states have also sought to craft their own
versions of a Texas law that bans abortion at
six weeks and empowers citizens to sue people
who assist women getting abortions past that
point. Idaho's state Senate passed a Texas-style
six-week abortion ban on Thursday, sending it
next to the state House for approval.
During oral arguments in December, the Supreme Court indicated its
willingness to allow Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban to stand. A
ruling in Mississippi's favor would conflict with the landmark 1973
Roe v. Wade decision establishing the right to end a pregnancy
before the fetus is viable, typically around 24 weeks.
Besides seeking reinstatement of its abortion law, the state of
Mississippi in Jackson Women's Health Organization v. Dobbs has
asked the high court to overturn Roe altogether.
The Supreme Court's ruling is expected this spring.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida said a privacy
clause in Florida's constitution that explicitly protects against
government "intrusion" in residents' private lives would be grounds
for a lawsuit challenging a 15-week abortion ban.
(Reporting by Gabriella Borter; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Aurora
Ellis and Jacqueline Wong)
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