Miami, Apr 3 (EFE).- The Florida Senate (USA) approved on Monday a bill to limit legal abortion to the first six weeks of pregnancy, a period in which, according to opponents of the extent, mostly Democrats, many women don’t even know they are pregnant.
With 26 votes in favor and 13 against, the Republican-majority Florida Senate approved SB 300 introduced last March by Senator Erin Grall.
The proposal will once again limit abortion rights in this state governed by conservative Ron DeSantis, who was re-elected in 2022 and apparently seeks to run for the White House in 2024.
As of July 1, 2022, you can only legally abort in Florida up to 15 weeks of pregnancy, instead of the 24 weeks established until then.
In the proposal of the Republican senator Grall, exceptions are contemplated for pregnant women as a result of rape or incest, which the current legislation does not do.
“Just over a year after reducing the number of weeks to obtain an abortion to 15 (weeks), the legislature has decided to once again address the issue of women’s bodily autonomy by seeking to reduce the already limited time restriction to only six weeks,” reacted Sen. Linda Stewart, D-Orange County.
According to a statement from Stewart, this bill also limits access to medications used to induce an abortion “by prohibiting the use of telehealth services and requiring in-person appointments.”
“Many women may not be able to confirm their pregnancy until the fourth week, and now the state of Florida expects them to get appointments with two doctors and make this important decision in just a couple of weeks?” the Democrat asked.
The measure approved by the Senate today still must be approved by the state House of Representatives before it reaches the governor’s desk for signature, but it is expected to go ahead.
The state Lower House also has a Republican majority.
Despite the restrictions, in 2022 legal abortions increased in Florida, according to figures from the official body in charge, and the rise was mainly due to the fact that more than 6,700 women from outside the state, which includes other points in the US. or from abroad, voluntarily terminated their pregnancies here.
Those patients who arrived in Florida came mainly from states such as Georgia, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas, where the restrictions are even greater.
The total number of legal abortions in Florida in 2022 was 82,199, up from 79,800 in 2021, and Miami-Dade was the county with the most abortions last year, with more than 15,500.
“The women of this state will not forget the names of the 26 cowards who refused to face Ron DeSantis. All of you will fall with him, it is not (it is) a threat, (it is) a promise, ”said the leader of the Florida Democratic Party, Nikki Fried, on Twitter today, and attached the list of the vote with the names of the senators.
