Florida House passes 6-week abortion ban; when it should take effect

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida House passed the six-week abortion ban Thursday and is headed to Gov. Ron DeSantis’s desk Friday.

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DeSantis is expected to sign this bill quickly, but it will not take effect until the Florida Supreme Court makes a ruling in a different case.

“This is a fight over two competing sets of rights,” Rep. Randy Fine (R-Brevard) said. “There’s a right of a baby to live and the right of a woman to do whatever she wants with her body.”

Fine spoke in support of the abortion ban bill as protestors chanted in the halls of the state house and Democrats pleaded for compromise.

Read: Florida House passes 6-week abortion ban; heading to Gov. DeSantis’ desk next

“Even with exceptions for rape and incest, if there are no doctors in Florida to provide care, exceptions don’t exist,” said Rep. Anna Eskamani.

The conservation majority overwhelmingly passed the bill late Thursday afternoon.

“Thank you to all of those fighting for life because this bill saves lives,” said Rep. Doug Bankson.

Read: Orlando abortion clinic faces fine over waiting period

But the heartbeat bill will be frozen for an undetermined amount of time.

The Florida Supreme Court is in the middle of considering a 15-week abortion ban that passed last year.

The new bill takes effect if that court allows the tighter restrictions to remain.

Read: Record number of women traveled to Florida for abortions in 2022, data shows

“This has never been about where life begins,” one representative said. “It’s about a legislature that’s led by men implementing laws to control women.”

Polling shows a majority of Floridians support abortion in all or most cases and seven Republicans voted against the bill.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre released a statement on the Florida House passing the abortion ban., which reads in part:

Today, Florida’s Republican supermajority-controlled legislature sent an extreme and dangerous new abortion ban to Governor DeSantis’s desk for signature. The ban flies in the face of fundamental freedoms and is out of step with the views of the vast majority of the people of Florida and of all the United States.

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