Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a bill that bans most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, triggering significant changes in access to abortion in the state.
This move has been met with opposition, as critics argue that six weeks is often before many women even know they are pregnant.
The law, which will only go into effect if Florida’s Supreme Court upholds the existing 15-week ban, has been praised by anti-abortion activists as a step towards “defending the dignity of human life” and making Florida a “pro-family state,” according to Governor DeSantis.
However, opponents of the bill, including the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, argue that the exceptions for cases of rape or incest would not provide meaningful access to patients in need.
They also warn that the bill could shut down a critical abortion access point for millions of people in the southeast, Caribbean, and Central and South America.
The fate of the new six-week abortion law now rests with Florida’s Supreme Court, which is currently hearing a challenge brought by abortion clinics against the state’s existing 15-week ban.
The court is expected to side with anti-abortion activists and uphold the ban.
The national debate over abortion in the US has been intensifying, with recent developments including a federal judge’s suspension of the approval of the widely used abortion drug, mifepristone, which was later blocked by an appellate court.
The Biden administration has expressed intentions to seek restoration of full access to the drug through the Supreme Court.
