On Wednesday evening, the Florida House of Representatives passed a bill banning abortion after the 15th week of pregnancy. Similar legislation passed in Mississippi is currently being challenged in the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Florida bill, House Bill 5, passed by a vote of 78 to 49. It now heads to the state Senate. The bill prohibits doctors from performing abortions if they believe that the gestational age of the fetus is more than 15 weeks. Current law in Florida allows abortion until the 24th week of pregnancy, which is the end of the second trimester.
After just over five hours of debate, the Florida House approves HB 5, which bans abortion after 15 weeks. The exceptions are fatal cases, not rape, incest and human trafficking. Vote largely along party lines, with a majority of the GOP in favor. pic.twitter.com/SXASz2FLFm
— Forrest Saunders (@FBSaunders) February 17, 2022
Democrats who opposed the bill called it “unconstitutional” and “offensive” because it leaves no exceptions for rape or incest.
After yesterday’s session on the dance floor, @FLHouseDems convened a press group to highlight the rejection of all amendments to Florida’s 15-week abortion ban, including amendments intended to make the law less harmful by excluding rape, incest and human trafficking from the ban. pic.twitter.com/YCLQVM4ODM
—Rep. Anna V. How?? (@AnnaForFlorida) February 16, 2022
During the debate in the House on the bill, which was ongoing about five hourspro-abortion activists were thrown out of the House after they started chanting, forcing the chamber to pause before taking a vote.
Abortion rights protesters were ejected from the Florida House of Representatives chamber on Wednesday, chanting “Nation united. We will never be defeated.” pic.twitter.com/iWHMWq3I4o
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) February 17, 2022
Police and Capitol staff order protesters to leave the House chamber.
They began chanting as lawmakers prepared to vote on a 15-week abortion ban. pic.twitter.com/XsvSnYLKlw
— Jason Delgado (@byJasonDelgado) February 17, 2022
This week, Townhall described how the Arizona Senate passed a bill banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Other states, such as Texas, South Dakota and Ohio, have introduced other pro-life laws in recent months.
On December 1, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in this case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organizationwhich concerns Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban. Dobbs it’s the first case in decades that could overturn landmark cases Roe v. Wade AND Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The decision is expected to be made this summer.
Earlier this month, I wrote about how a Florida teenager, “Jane Doe,” won an appeal in district court, demanding that she speak to a doctor and ultimately undergo a medical abortion without her parents’ consent.
New York Post Office reported Florida State Representative Dana Trabulsy, a Republican from Fort Pierce, revealed during a House debate that she had once had an abortion.
“It is the right to life and giving up life is unthinkable for me,” Trabulsy said, adding that “I have regretted it every day since then.”
