TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida’s six-week abortion ban took effect Wednesday, replacing the previous law that allowed abortions up to 15 weeks across the state.
What You Need To Know
- A six-week abortion ban took effect Wednesday
- It replaces an existing 15-week ban
- There is a Constitutional Amendment on the ballot in November that addresses abortion
The law in question, SB 300: Pregnancy and Parenting Support, was passed by the state legislature in April 2023, and was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis later that year. However, there was a provision in the text of the law that said it would take effect “30 days after… a decision by the Florida Supreme Court in Planned Parenthood v. State, that allows the prohibition on abortions after 15 weeks.”
The state Supreme Court ruled that the existing 15-week abortion ban was constitutional on April 1, clearing the way for the 30 day countdown.
Most abortions are obtained before the 15-week mark, so the current ban does not affect most people seeking abortion. But a six-week ban would likely have a major impact on women seeking abortions in Florida and throughout the South.
DeSantis appointed five of the court’s seven justices.
The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration reported there were a total of 84,052 reported terminated pregnancies across the state in 2023. That number includes 7,736 abortions that were from people living out of state, something that DeSantis addressed in an interview last year with CBS during his presidential bid.
“We have become, against our wishes, a destination,” he said. “We don’t want to be an abortion tourism destination.”
The six-week ban allows exceptions that allow a woman to obtain an abortion if she is a victim of rape, incest, or human trafficking. If any of those exceptions were to occur, physicians are required to report such incidents to their local police agency.
In a turn of events, the Florida Supreme Court also approved the wording of a proposed state Constitutional Amendment that would allow abortion until 24 weeks into pregnancy. That proposed amendment will now appear on ballots across the state in November, allowing voters to approve a direct amendment that would override the existing six-week ban taking effect Wednesday.
Former President Donald Trump, the 2024 GOP presumptive presidential nominee, said in an interview with TIME magazine he would defer to individual states if they want to enforce abortion laws by monitoring women’s pregnancies and prosecuting them if they get abortions.
“It’s irrelevant whether I’m comfortable or not. It’s totally irrelevant, because the states are going to make those decisions,” Trump said when asked if he would be comfortable with states criminally charging women for getting abortions. “And by the way, Texas is going to be different than Ohio. And Ohio is going to be different than Michigan.”