Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs 15-week abortion ban without exemptions for rape, incest into law

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a 15-week abortion ban into legislation Thursday because the state joined a rising conservative push to limit entry forward of a U.S. Supreme Court docket resolution that would restrict the process nationwide.

The brand new legislation marks a big blow to abortion entry within the South, the place Florida has supplied wider entry to the process than its regional neighbors.

The brand new legislation, which takes impact July 1, comprises exceptions if the abortion is critical to save lots of a mom’s life, stop critical damage or if the fetus has a deadly abnormality. It doesn’t permit for exemptions in instances the place pregnancies have been brought on by rape, incest or human trafficking. Beneath present legislation, Florida permits abortions as much as 24 weeks.

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“This may symbolize probably the most important protections for all times which have been enacted on this state in a era,” DeSantis stated as he signed the invoice on the “Nación de Fe” (“Nation of Religion”), an evangelical church within the metropolis of Kissimmee that serves members of the Latino inhabitants.

DeSantis, a Republican rising star and potential 2024 presidential candidate, signed the measure after a number of ladies delivered speeches about how they selected to not have abortions or, within the case of 1, regretted having achieved so.

A number of the folks in attendance, together with younger youngsters, stood behind the audio system holding indicators saying “Select life,” whereas those that spoke stood at a podium to which was affixed an indication displaying an toddler’s ft and a heartbeat studying, “Shield Life.”

Debate over the proposal grew deeply private and revealing contained in the Florida legislature, with lawmakers recalling their very own abortions and experiences with sexual assault in usually tearful speeches on the Home and Senate flooring.

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Elsewhere in the US, Republican lawmakers have launched new abortion restrictions, some much like a Texas legislation that bans abortion after roughly six weeks and leaves enforcement as much as non-public residents, which the U.S. Supreme Court docket determined to depart in place.

Oklahoma Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt just lately signed a invoice to make it a felony to carry out an abortion, punishable by as much as a decade in jail. Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey in March signed laws to outlaw abortion after 15 weeks if the U.S. Supreme Court docket leaves Mississippi’s legislation in place.

If Roe is overturned, 26 states are sure or prone to shortly ban or severely limit abortion, in keeping with the Guttmacher Institute, a assume tank that helps abortion rights. Throughout debate of the Florida laws, Republicans have stated they need the state to be nicely positioned to restrict entry to abortions if the U.S. Supreme Court docket upholds Mississippi’s legislation.