Florida Senate passes six week abortion ban

A bill banning most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy passed the Florida Senate on Monday, moving it one step closer to the governor’s desk.

Amid shouted protests in the Senate chamber from the bill’s opponents, the Senate voted 26 to 13 to pass the “Heartbeat Protection Act.” Two Republicans joined all Democrats in voting against the legislation.

House Republicans are expected to approve their own version of the bill in the coming days, and a final bill will likely be signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).

DeSantis last year signed a law banning abortion after 15 weeks, with no exceptions for rape or incest. That law is currently being challenged in the state Supreme Court as a violation of the state’s right to privacy, and a decision is not expected until next month at the earliest.

DeSantis is widely expected to use his second term as governor as a springboard to launch a presidential campaign, and the policies he endorses as governor will likely preview his national platform.

The six-week ban includes limited exceptions if the person obtaining the abortion is a victim of rape or incest. But the exception would only be allowed up until 15 weeks of pregnancy. The person would also need to prove they are a victim by providing “a copy of a restraining order, police report, medical record, or other court order or documentation.”

The bill would also require medical abortion pills to be dispensed in person by a physician and would ban abortion care by telehealth, including mailing abortion medication.

Health care providers who violate the ban could be charged with a third-degree felony, which carries a maximum prison sentence of five years.

Florida is the only state in the Southeast that allows abortion even up to 15 weeks. States including Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana moved to ban abortion outright in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade last year.