On Wednesday, a laws in Florida that prohibits abortions at six weeks of pregnancy, which is typically when a newborn beat can be detected, is scheduled to go into effect.
The Florida Supreme Court upheld the country’s 15-week pregnancy restraint on April 1 by a decision that will put a six-week abortion restriction into effect. The judge’s decision to allow the 15-week pregnancy cap to remain in effect cleared the way for the state’s six-week pregnancy cap to become effective. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ( R )  , signed , the six- week Heartbeat Bill in April 2023, which contains exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother. The state Supreme Court, according to its article, allowed the six-week ban to continue until it can decide whether to apply the 15-week ban.
Since the Supreme Court issued its Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade and gave specific states the right to choose where to abort, Florida has been a place for abortion in the South. Nine states in the region have passed close to full pregnancy constraints, and Georgia and South Carolina have passed six-week limits. Before Dobbs, contraception was authorized in Florida up to 24 weeks of pregnancy.
In 2023, more than 84, 000 people had abortions in Florida, which is higher than most claims. Out of those women,  , 7, 736 reported being from out of state, up from 6, 726 in 2022, according to data from the Agency for Health Care Administration ( AHCA ). The AHCA has already recorded 14, 735 pregnancies this year to date, 1, 316 of which were for people from out of position.
According to research from the pro-choice Guttmacher Institute, Florida was the site of one in every three pregnancies in the South and one in 12 in the United States. Additionally, Guttmacher reported that more than 9, 000 people from outside of Florida have abortions, which is higher than the number of women coming from outside the state.
Women are less likely to go from nearby claims to have abortions now that Florida has tighter abortion laws and joins the southern states in this regard.
” The closest pregnancy center for people living at Florida’s southern tip will be a 14- hr drive aside in Charlotte. A person whose conception has progressed beyond 12 months, the point at which North Carolina restrictions pregnancy, will have to travel 17 hours, to southeastern Virginia”, The Washington Post reported.  ,
Kelly Flynn, the president and chief executive of A Woman’s Choice, a network of abortion clinics, told The Post that “people are scrambling” to get abortions before the law takes effect.
” We’re telling them,’ Hey, it’s going to be busy.’ We do n’t want them to walk in blindsided” , , Flynn said.
When the Florida Supreme Court handed down its decision upholding the 15- week restriction and clearing the way for the six- week restriction, it also issued a decision , allowing a , proposed amendment , that would enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution to appear on the ballot in November.
The proposed amendment is backed by , Floridians Protecting Freedom — a , coalition , of left- wing groups , including Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida — and bars the state from restricting abortion before viability ( approximately 24 weeks ) or” when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider”.
If Florida’s voters approve the amendment with at least 60 % of the vote in November, it would effectively end the six-week ban and give the state a permanent right to abortion, which could only be ended with a different ballot measure or a steep legal battle.
The abortion activists backing the measure , surpassed , the number of required signatures in January, and the measure will appear as” Amendment 4″ on the general election ballot, according to state officials.
President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign notably , released , a memo moments after the Florida Supreme Court decisions were released, saying it sees the state as winnable because of its ongoing strategy to galvanize Democrats around the issue of abortion. Biden campaigned on abortion in Tampa last week, and Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to speak in favor of abortion in Jacksonville on Wednesday, according to The Post.
BREAKING: Ron DeSantis says Joe Biden wo n’t win Florida by campaigning on abortions up to birth. https: //t. co/BiCmO6s0QJ pic. twitter.com/5uvcwT1WW4
— LifeNews.com ( @LifeNewsHQ ) April 30, 2024
DeSantis called the six-week suspension a “noble effort” on Tuesday, and he added that he is not worried about Democrats using abortion to retake Florida in November.  , Former President Donald Trump notably led the state by 370, 000 votes in 2020, and Republicans , boast a nearly 900, 000 voter registration , advantage over Democrats in the state as of March 31,  , according to the Florida Division of Elections.
” I welcome Biden- Harris to spend a lot of money in Florida. Light up the airwaves. Do it. Light it on fire”, DeSantis said at a news conference in Tampa. ” We are okay with you doing that here,” the statement read. However, I can confidently say that you’ll see Republican victories up and down the ballot as well, not just at the top of the ticket.
For Breitbart News, Katherine Hamilton covers politics. You can follow her on X , @thekat_hamilton.
