Florida’s new abortion law does not grant exemptions for rape, incest, or human trafficking; the law goes into effect July 1.
It will soon be illegal in Florida for most women in the fourth month of pregnancy to have an abortion. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed House Bill 5, better known as the Reducing Fetal and Infant Mortality Act, into law Thursday afternoon.
The signing took place at Nación De Fe, a church in Kissimmee.
“House Bill 5 protects babies in the womb who have beating hearts, who can move, who can taste, who can see, and who can feel pain,” DeSantis said. “Life is a sacred gift worthy of our protection, and I am proud to sign this great piece of legislation, which represents the most significant protections for life in the state’s modern history.”
The law specifically states that “a physician may not perform a termination of pregnancy if the physician determines the gestational age of the fetus is more than 15 weeks.”
There are, however, exceptions to the rule.
According to the law, abortions may be performed after 15 weeks if it is deemed necessary to save the pregnant woman’s life or avoid serious health risks that could lead to serious, irreversible physical impairment. In most circumstances, two physicians would also have to sign off on the abortion in writing.
Abortion after 15 weeks of gestation may also still be possible if the fetus has not achieved “viability” and has a fatal abnormality, the law states.
The law will also require medical facilities that perform abortions to report monthly to the state how many abortions it performs, the reasons for them, the period of gestation at the time the abortion was performed and the number of infants born alive after an attempted abortion.
Meanwhile, critics of the law, especially Florida Democrats, argue that it makes no exemptions for rape, incest, or human trafficking.
“Let me be clear: there is no such thing as a reasonable abortion ban. Nothing in this abortion ban is moderate, it is extreme. And despite impassioned pleas by Democrats to add exceptions for rape, incest, and human trafficking they were each rejected. The only exceptions that do exist are very narrow,” Rep. Anna V. Eskamani, a Democrat from Orlando, said in a statement.
“Majority of Floridians overwhelmingly support abortion access. Polling tells us time and time again that this is seen as a personal medical decision that must remain between a person, their family, their doctor, and their faith,” she continued.
The 15-week abortion law goes into effect on July 1, 2022.
Any abortion BEFORE 15 WEEKS should be BANNED, because it is a human life at conception. Roe V Wade must be overturned! Abortion is MURDER no matter when it is!