A new ban on abortion after sic weeks was passed by the Florida legislature this week. Governor Ron DeSantis is expected to sign the bill when it hits his desk.
The Center for Reproductive Rights argues that the new bill is a health hazard to many women.
“This bill threatens to end abortion almost entirely amid a growing public health crisis,” Elisabeth Smith, director of state policy and advocacy at the Center for Reproductive Rights, said. “If this ban takes effect, Floridians would be stranded in a vast abortion desert and forced to travel over 1,000 miles to get an abortion.”
Florida already has a ban on abortion in place that makes it illegal to get one after 15 weeks of pregnancy. This current law is being challenged by the Center for Reproductive Rights and other groups and will be heard by the Florida Supreme Court in the next few weeks.
But if the 15-weeks ban is upheld by the Supreme Court, the new ban is written in a way that it will allow it to supersede the current law and take effect immediately banning abortions after six weeks.
“Across the country, pregnant people are being pushed to the brink of death because they can’t get an abortion,” Smith said. “Yet Florida lawmakers have rushed this dangerous ban through the legislature with no concern for their citizens and how it will harm them. We also must remember that Mifepristone is under attack, and if that pill is taken off the market, it will become even harder to get an abortion before six weeks.”
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