Florida Governor DeSantis Signs 6-Week Abortion Ban Into Law

Governor Ron DeSantis from Florida signed into law a bill that bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. This law gives the Governor an important win among Republican voters right before he announces his candidacy for President, with support as a conservative leader.

Some Democrats in Florida had a protest for abortion rights, because of the recent changes in the rules about using pills to end pregnancies. The Department of Justice is asking the Supreme Court to put off a 6-week ban on abortions which will take effect if the 15-week one that’s in place now holds up in court. That court is mostly made up of people who do not support abortion rights.

The new policy could mean a lot for many people in the South who want to get an abortion. This comes after the Supreme Court said last year that each state can decide its own laws on abortion. Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi have completely banned abortions, while Georgia doesn’t let women get abortions past six weeks since cardiac activity has started at this stage.

Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka, who works for the Republicans, believes that we should be discussing the importance of protecting unborn babies and giving them a chance to live and find their special purpose in life. However, Democrats and people who support abortion rights don’t agree and think Florida’s ideas on this topic are too far reaching.

According to Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, a ban in Florida would not allow four million women of reproductive age to get an abortion after six weeks – even before they know they are pregnant. This would also affect the 15 million women living in states where getting an abortion is hard or illegal, as many of them have recently been going to Florida for that kind of care.

The law includes a few special cases, like if the woman’s life is at risk. If the pregnancy came from either rape or incest, then a woman can get an abortion until 15 weeks of pregnancy as long as she can provide proof (like a restraining order or police report). The Governor thinks this exception for rape and incest makes sense.

In the state of Florida, medication used for abortions can only be given to patients or prescribed out by a doctor in person. Furthermore, people around the United States may find it harder to get a certain pill known as ‘mifepristone’ due to an on-going court challenge.

Republican Rep. Mike Beltran said that the recent bill provides lots of protections for people who are in tricky situations and it includes some exceptions plus a six-week time frame which was agreed on by everyone.

Since some religious conservatives support banning abortion, the Republican Party supports it too. However, Republicans have lost mostly because of this issue in elections in states like Kentucky, Michigan and Wisconsin recently.

House Democratic Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell asked if anyone had resources from other state’s elections. She wanted to know if people listened to the opinions of Florida’s citizens.

Governor DeSantis has a history of being very vocal about cultural issues, but he seemed less sure about this six-week ban policy. He usually just says that he supports pro-life legislation whenever he is asked about it.

You can press shift and the ? key together to bring up a list of helpful keyboard shortcuts. Governor DeSantis is likely to declare his presidential campaign after this month ends in May. People expect that he will be influenced by the conservative decisions made by Republicans in the state legislature this year.

Democrats are not in charge of any level of state government and tried using delays or protests to stop a bill from passing. The Senate voted for the bill last week, and the House did the same on Thursday.

Two Democratic people were arrested and charged with entering a place they shouldn’t have during a protest in Tallahassee. This was against the bill that stated women cannot make decisions regarding their own health for six weeks.

The Democrats attempted to block this by submitting lots of amendments, yet all of them were rejected by Republicans. Representative Felicia Simone Robinson said, “Women don’t have the rights over their own bodies anymore, so is Florida really still free?”