Florida Governor Ron DeSantis – who is preparing for an expected presidential run – has signed a contentious bill into law banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.
The Republican, who has been making headlines with his extreme-conservative views, expects the move to be a key political victory among Republican primary voters as he gears up to launch his presidential candidacy for the 2024 US elections, built on his national brand as a conservative standard bearer, according to a report by Associated Press.
Florida currently prohibits abortions after 15 weeks.
The policy – known as the Heartbeat Protection Act – would have wider implications for abortion access throughout the South with the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the US Supreme Court in June last year, leaving decisions about abortion access to individual states.
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Democrats and abortion-rights groups say Florida's proposal would ban almost all abortions because in most cases, women do not realise they're pregnant at six weeks.
Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi have banned abortion at all stages of pregnancy, while Georgia, similar to Florida, forbids the procedure after cardiac activity can be detected, which is around six weeks.
The Florida bill contains some exceptions, including saving the woman's life. Abortions for pregnancies involving rape or incest would be allowed until 15 weeks of pregnancy, provided a woman has documentation such as a restraining order or police report. Governor DeSantis has called the rape and incest provisions sensible.
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Moreover, drugs used in medication-induced abortions — which make up the majority of those provided nationally — could be dispensed only in person or by a physician under the Florida bill. Separately, nationwide access to the abortion pill mifepristone is being challenged in court.
When does Florida's abortion law come into effect?
Florida's six-week ban would take effect only after the state's current 15-week ban is upheld in an ongoing legal challenge before the state Supreme Court, which is controlled by conservatives.
“I can't think of any bill that's going to provide more protections to more people who are more vulnerable than this piece of legislation,” Republican Representative Mike Beltran told AP, adding that the bill's exceptions and six-week timeframe represented a compromise.
‘Supporting life’
“We are proud to support life and family in the state of Florida,” DeSantis, who often places himself on the front lines of culture war issues, reportedly said in a statement.
The governor backs the six-week ban but has appeared uncharacteristically tepid on the bill. He has often said, “We welcome pro-life legislation,” when asked about the policy.
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 by the Republican supermajority in the Statehouse this year.
‘Have we learned nothing?’
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Abortion bans are popular among some religious conservatives who are part of the GOP voting base, but the issue has motivated many Americans to vote for Democrats. Republicans have also suffered a few defeats in elections in recent weeks and months centred on abortion access in states such as Kentucky, Michigan and Wisconsin.
“Have we learned nothing," asked House Democratic Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell of recent elections in other states. "Do we not listen to our constituents and to the people of Florida and what they are asking for?”
Democrats, without power at any level of state government, have mostly turned to stall tactics and protests to oppose the bill, which easily passed both chambers on party-line votes. The Senate approved it last week, and the House did so Thursday.
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A Democratic senator and the chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party were arrested and charged with trespassing during a protest in Tallahassee against the six-week ban. In a last-ditch move to delay the bill's passage in the House on Thursday, Democrats filed dozens of amendments to the proposal, all of which were rejected by Republicans.
“Women's health and their personal right to choose is being stolen," said Democratic Rep. Felicia Simone Robinson. "So I ask: Is Florida truly a free state?"
