What is the current law governing abortion in Florida? It’s complicated
If things go as planned, beginning July 1 a new Florida law that bans abortions for women pregnant more than six weeks would go into effect. Many, if not most women, are unaware they are pregnant at the six-week mark, and abortion rights activists are calling the pending legislation a “near all-out abortion ban.”
The new law, called the Heartbeat Protection Act, stipulates that the right to privacy as spelled out in the state constitution does not carry with it a right to abortion.
Proponents of the bill (SB 300/HB 7) include Republican Sen. Erin Grall, a mother of three who tweeted “Life is precious and sacred.” The state senator represents Indian River, Glades, Highlands and Okeechobee counties and part of St. Lucie County.
As it stands, the implementation of the six-week ban is on hold as the Florida Supreme Court decides on a separate matter: a 15-week abortion ban, signed into law last year by Gov. Ron DeSantis, which the state has been permitted to enforce despite pending legal challenges. If that law gains judicial approval, it will grease the skids for the six-week limit. Another proponent of the House Bill is Republican Rep. Jennifer Canady, who is also the wife of Charles Canady, a Florida Supreme Court justice.
The six-week ban is less than absolute. Exceptions include victims of rape, incest, domestic violence or human trafficking — provided the patient is able to provide documentation in the form of a police report, court order, or medical report.
The new law requires that Florida doctors who prescribe abortion pills do so in person, an effort to prevent the distribution of such medication by mail. It also grants a total of $25 million a year to crisis pregnancy centers in the state, which pursue an anti-abortion agenda, and prohibits state entities from helping women travel out of state for an abortion.
Traveling from state to state in search of less rigid abortion restrictions has become increasingly common since last June, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, enabling individual states to enact their own laws, as Florida just did.
