Florida is considering a 6-week abortion ban. What to know about the heartbeat bill
Florida lawmakers will soon have to consider whether to ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.
A new bill proposing the tighter restriction was filed Tuesday on the first day of Florida’s legislative session. Currently, Florida law bans most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, down from 24 weeks after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the controversial bill passed last year by the Florida Legislature.
Here’s what to know about the new measure:
Who is sponsoring the bill?
The Senate bill (SB 300) is sponsored by Sen. Erin Grall, R-Lake Placid. The House bill is sponsored by Reps. Jenna Persons-Mulicka, R-Fort Myers, and Spencer Roach, R-North Fort Myers. Grall and Persons-Mulicka co-sponsored last year’s 15-week abortion ban bill, HB 5.
DeSantis said Tuesday he supports more restrictions on abortion.
READ MORE: GOP bill in Florida would limit abortions to six weeks except for rape, incest
How is the bill different from Florida’s current abortion law?
The proposed bill would ban abortions in Florida after six weeks of pregnancy, rather than the current 15-week ban. The new bill proposes exceptions for rape and incest up until 15 weeks of pregnancy, with documentation of the rape.
Accepted documents include a “copy of a restraining order, police report, medical record, or other court order or documentation providing evidence that she is obtaining the termination of pregnancy because she is a victim of rape or incest,” according to the legislation.
But, it’s worth noting, that “Only 310 out of every 1,000 sexual assaults are reported to police. That means more than 2 out of 3 go unreported,” according to Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, the country’s largest anti-sexual-violence organization.
Florida’s current law has no exceptions for rape, incest or human trafficking. Women can still have an abortion in Florida after 15 weeks of pregnancy if doctors determine the woman’s life or health is threatened, excluding psychological conditions, or if their baby has a “fatal fetal abnormality.”
What about saving a woman’s life?
The bill has an exception for abortions that are medically necessary to save the mother’s life, “avert a serious risk of imminent substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function,” excluding psychological conditions, or if the baby has a “fatal fetal abnormality” and the pregnancy has not progressed to the third trimester.
In these instances, two physicians must certify in writing that the abortion is necessary. One physician can certify that the abortion is necessary to save the woman’s life or to avoid serious bodily damage if another doctor is not available for consultation, according to the legislation.
Some doctors, however, may be reluctant to certify this due to fear of the disciplinary and felony charges they could possibly face if the state determines the procedure ran afoul of the law, said Clara Trullenque, communications manager for Planned Parenthood of South, East and North Florida.
Could abortion pills be used?
The new bill stipulates that an abortion pill “be dispensed in person by a physician.” The proposed bill would prohibit abortion pills from being shipped by the U.S. Postal Service or shipping companies.
A federal judge in Texas is set to rule soon on whether mifepristone, a pill widely used in medication abortions, should be taken off the market.
What about paying to travel out of state for an abortion?
The bill would prohibit using state funds to help someone travel to another state to get an abortion, unless “a person, governmental entity or educational institution” is required by federal law to spend such state funds, the bill says, or there is a medical necessity. It’s not clear if this would impact city funding, such as a $50,000 proposal from the St. Petersburg City Council to support the Tampa Bay Abortion Fund, which would pay travel expenses for city residents seeking abortions, according to the Tampa Bay Times, the Herald’s media partner.
READ MORE: Her fetus had a fatal birth defect. She had to fly out of Florida for an abortion
Opponents of abortion argue that the procedure amounts to the murder of an unborn child.
Abortion right supporters, such as Planned Parenthood, say the restrictions will make it harder for women to get an abortion, endanger lives, and will disproportionately affect Florida’s Black and Hispanic communities, who may not have access to care. (Planned Parenthood is one of the plaintiffs in a suit before the state Supreme Court challenging Florida’s current abortion law.)
When do most women know they are pregnant?
Most women learn they are pregnant during weeks four through seven of their pregnancy, according to the American Pregnancy Association. However, many women don’t know they’re pregnant by the sixth week.
“Most early pregnancy symptoms don’t appear until around eight weeks after the first day of your last period, though sometimes, they can come on earlier,” according to the Cleveland Clinic. “For some people, some symptoms may appear right around the time you miss your period.”
And while at-home pregnancy tests are common, many still experience delays when confirming a suspected pregnancy, with 1 in 3 people confirming their pregnancies at six weeks gestation or later and 1 in 5 after seven weeks, according to Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health, a research group at the University of California, San Francisco, which specializes in evaluating positive and negative repercussions of reproductive health policies.
“Later confirmation of pregnancy is even higher among young people, people of color, and those living with food insecurity, suggesting that gestational bans on abortion in the first trimester will disproportionately hurt these populations,” according to a 2021 online post about the group’s research.
The findings came from anonymous survey data gathered from 259 pregnant individuals at eight primary and reproductive healthcare clinics in the U.S., including one abortion facility, in 2016 and 2017.
Do other states have similar bills?
Yes. Six other states have already approved six-week bans, also known as heartbeat bills: Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Dakota and Oklahoma, Politico reports.
