FL Senate panel approves 15-week abortion ban; no exceptions for rape, incest, human trafficking

In the Legislature’s first Senate hearing on a proposed 15-week abortion ban, GOP lawmakers and anti-abortion activists supported the measure, even after Democrats tried to amend the legislation to allow for rape, incest and human trafficking exceptions.

The amendment didn’t pass. And the vote overall on the ban was six Republicans to four Democrats.

For abortion rights groups, Wednesday’s vote on SB 146 (the companion bill to HB 5 in the state House) — is likely a harbinger to come now that both chambers are pursuing the abortion ban in the 2022 legislative session.

On Wednesday, the atmosphere during the Senate’s Health Policy Committee meeting had a religious tone, with a pastor and a reverend at the meeting. Some medical personnel attended as well. And many speakers spoke for the abortion ban.

One woman told lawmakers on the committee that she wanted to show a sonogram representing images of a 15-week fetus.

“No props please,” state Sen. Manny Diaz, Jr. said.  Diaz serves as the Health Policy chairman.

She then said, “this fetus, well, I’m going to call it a baby, is a little boy. This baby is personally … dear to my heart because he is my first grandchild…”

State Sen. Lauren Book addressed concerns as a rape victim, saying that the bill needed to include situations where women become pregnant from rape, incest and human trafficking. Book, a Democrat representing part of Broward County, is the Senate’s Democratic leader. But Republicans didn’t support that measure.

Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, who provided testimony at the Senate committee meeting, also provided a statement on the bill:

“Governor DeSantis loves to say that Florida is a ‘free state,’ but this extreme bill would take away women’s freedom to make decisions about our bodies and our futures – even in cases of rape or incest. It’s yet another dangerous, authoritarian power grab by Florida Republicans and a disgusting insult to the dignity of women across Florida. We will fight this every step of the way.”

In Florida, GOP lawmakers have a history of pushing legislation to restrict legal access to abortion services, threatening the protections under Roe v. Wade, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that legalized abortions.

For example, GOP members of the Florida Legislature had pushed for abortion restrictions including legislation signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2020 that requires parental consent for a minor to terminate a pregnancy.

The law requires that pregnant minors receive written parental consent to get an abortion, regardless of rape or incest, as previously reported by the Florida Phoenix.

In September of 2021, Republican state Rep. Webster Barnaby filed a similar bill to Texas’ restrictive anti-abortion law but it still hasn’t moved yet in the 2022 legislative session.

Meanwhile, a decision is looming in the U.S. Supreme Court involving a Mississippi law similar to Florida’s proposed abortion ban that prohibits most abortions after 15 weeks.