A lawmaker in Florida introduced a bill on Wednesday with a similar framework to the recent Texas law prohibiting abortions roughly six weeks after conception.
The Florida bill, HB 167, was introduced by state Republican Rep. Webster Barnaby and allows private citizens to file lawsuits against others who either perform or “aided or abetted” a procedure after the detection of a fetal heartbeat — a highly similar facet to the recently passed Texas law.
State Gov. Ron DeSantis said earlier this month that he would support an abortion law similar to the one in Texas.
Similar bills have been attempted and failed in Florida, however, the Supreme Court’s decision to decline blocking the recent Texas abortion bill could signal a similar outcome in the Sunshine State.
PENCE SAYS HE HOPES SUPREME COURT WILL FURTHER RESTRICT ABORTIONS
Both the Florida bill and the Texas law mark the strictest attempts at restricting abortions in the United States since the high court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. The legislative proposals are part of a broader push by Republicans nationwide to impose new limitations on abortion.
Democratic state Rep. Anna Eskamani, who previously worked for Planned Parenthood, said that the passage of the bill into law could cause some Florida women to seek unsafe options to terminate pregnancies.
“We know that for those who don’t have means to leave the state of Florida to end their pregnancy that they will likely have nowhere to go, and they might seek unsafe options to end a pregnancy or be forced to carry a pregnancy to term that they do not feel like they can,” Eskamani told a local radio station WMFE.
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The Supreme Court has not ruled on the constitutionality of the Texas abortion law, and it has been challenged by multiple abortion rights organizations. The Justice Department also said it would challenge the Lone Star State law.
