Florida

Florida lawmakers file 15-week abortion ban, Gov. Ron DeSantis indicates support

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — On the first day of the 2022 Florida Legislative Session, two Republican lawmakers introduced legislation that would prohibit most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

It’s nearly identical to Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban, which currently being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The 15-week abortion ban legislation had been in the Capitol rumor-mill for weeks.

Democrats like State Representative Anna Eskamani worry the fact it was officially filed on the first day of session, suggests Republicans are serious about moving forward.

“It sends a dangerous message to women and Floridians across the state that we don’t care about your rights,” Eskamani said.

Currently, under Florida law abortions are allowed as late as 24 weeks into a pregnancy.

If passed, doctors could face five years in prison and a $5,000 fine for carrying out an abortion after 15 weeks.

Eskamani noted while the bill does allow for abortions after the 15-week cutoff if the mother’s life is at risk or if the fetus is non-viable, it doesn’t have exemptions for rape and incest.

“And the reality is that if a 15-week abortion ban becomes a reality in Florida, anyone who needs to end their pregnancy, at that point is potentially going to have to travel to North Carolina in world without Roe v. Wade,” Eskamani said.

In his State of the State address, Governor Ron DeSantis didn’t use the word abortion, but he did allude to his support for pro-life legislation this year.

“We have an opportunity to strengthen protections for the right to life, without which the other rights mean little,” DeSantis said.

But following the speech, he indicated he’d likely support a 15-week ban.

“I mean when you start talking about, you know, 15 weeks where you have really serious pain and heartbeats and all this stuff, you know having protections I think is something that makes a lot of sense,” DeSantis said.

If passed, the constitutionality of the 15-week ban wouldn’t be certain, even if the U.S. Supreme Court gives the greenlight to Mississippi’s law.

In the past, Florida’s privacy clause in the state constitution has prevented state lawmakers from implementing other abortion restrictions.

“We have not only put into our Constitution a right to privacy back in the 80s, but we protected that right to privacy right when it’s been challenged like we did in 2012,” Eskamani said.

Previous Florida Supreme Court rulings that decided the privacy clause protects abortion access were made when the court was mostly comprised of Democrat-appointed justices.

Now, Republican appointees make up the majority and they haven’t shied away in recent years from breaking previous court precedents.