TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida Republicans are getting closer to passing a law that would prevent women from getting abortions within six weeks of pregnancy and force them to prove they were victims of rape or incest for an abortion before 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Both the Florida House and the Senate have a Republican majority and are divided along party lines on a bill that would make Florida one of the states in the country with the most restrictions on abortion.
On Thursday morning, in Tallahassee, the Florida House Healthcare Regulation Subcommittee voted 13-5 to approve a bill sponsored by Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka, of Fort Myers.
“It’s a bill that recognizes the importance and value of the life of innocent, unborn human beings,” Persons-Mulicka said.
Democratic Florida House Reps. Robin Bartleman, of Weston; Franklin II, Gallop, of Tallahassee; Christine Hunschofsky, of Parkland; Kelly Skidmore, of Boca Raton; and Tant, Allison, of Jacksonville, voted against it.
“Abortion is healthcare,” Skidmore said.
Persons-Mulicka filed HB 7: Pregnancy and Parenting Support with the backing of four Florida Republican congressmen — Reps. Mike Beltran, Ralph Massullo, Spencer Roach, and Joel Rudman — and the support of House Speaker Paul Renner.
“We know that by six weeks a heartbeat is detectible, and what great evidence of life is there,” Persons-Mulicka said.
The Florida Senate Committee on Health Policy is scheduled to review SB 300: Pregnancy and Parenting Support on Monday. Sen Erin Grall, of Vero Beach, filed the bill last week with the backing of two Republican congressmen — Reps. Clay Yarborough and Joe Gruters — and the support of Senate President Kathleen Passidomo.
With a likely vote of 9-3, Florida Senate Republicans expect the committee’s three Democrats — Sens. Lauren Book, Tracie Davis, and Rosalind Osgood — to vote against the bill. After this, the bill has to pass one more House committee and one in the Senate before the final votes.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a landmark case that had protected abortion as a woman’s right since 1973. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill in April that restricted abortions before 15 weeks of pregnancy.— without exceptions for rape or incest.
Opponents argued that the law violates a privacy clause in the Florida Constitution, and the Florida Supreme Court has yet to uphold it.