Six-week abortion ban officially takes effect in Florida

The six-week abortion ban has officially gone into effect in Florida. Although the new law was approved by the state Legislature and signed by Governor Ron DeSantis in 2023, a ruling from the local Supreme Court was required for it to take effect within the Sunshine State’s borders. However, the organization Floridians Protecting Freedom is preparing an election in November to try to amend the constitution.

The new law, called the ‘Heartbeat Protection Law,’ came into effect on Wednesday, May 1, after the state’s highest court validated the previous 15-week legislation in early April.

“The Heartbeat Protection Act builds on Florida’s strong track record of protecting the most vulnerable, especially the unborn, and strengthens state efforts to promote adoption and support families, with significant resources to benefit infants, young children, and parents, which we hope will encourage more Floridians in difficult and unplanned situations to choose life for their babies. (...) Our bill also includes strong and clear exceptions for rape, incest, and human trafficking, in addition to those already available for the life of the mother. We also clarify the existing exception for the horrible situation when parents are facing the heartbreaking diagnosis of a fatal fetal abnormality,” celebrated the president of the local Senate, Kathleen Passidomo.

Florida’s new abortion legislation

According to the text approved by the state Legislature and signed by the governor in April 2023, most abortions are prohibited after six weeks.

The only exceptions would be in cases of rape, incest and human trafficking, in which victims may obtain an abortion up to 15 weeks, as long as the woman presents a restraining order, a police report, medical history or other evidence.

This new law would only go into effect if the state Supreme Court upholds the previous 15-week ban, which occurred in early April.

“The majority concludes that the public understanding of the right of privacy did not encompass the right to an abortion. However, the dominance of Roe in the public discourse makes it inconceivable that in 1980, Florida voters did not associate abortion with the right of privacy,” the ruling reads.

The November constitutional amendment

In early April, the state Supreme Court also allowed voters to hold an election in November to amend the constitution and enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution, which also occurred in Ohio during 2023.

In January of this year, the organization Floridians Protecting Freedom gathered almost a million signatures from registered voters for the Supreme Court to review the text of the amendment to be proposed. The judges then had to decide whether the proposed language was “clear and unambiguous” so as not to confuse voters.

With four votes in favor and three against, the highest state court endorsed the suggested text, which was as follows: “No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider. This amendment does not change the Legislature’s constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion.”