(ReclaimingAmerica.net) – Florida is set to pass a “heartbeat” law limiting abortion to the first six weeks of pregnancy before the fetus gets a heartbeat.
The current Florida law, passed in 2022 after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, allows abortion through the 15th week of pregnancy.
The draft legislation for a “heartbeat” abortion ban has been passed by its second and final state House committee, meaning it is now set for the House floor.
The measure was approved in the House Health and Human Services Committee by a 14-6 vote along party lines, Florida Politics reported, as cited by Newsmax.
Meanwhile, a companion bill in the state Senate had cleared both of its committees. The upper chamber held a tense debate Thursday and set a vote for next week.
Republican state Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka, who initiated the House heartbeat bill, said it “provides for new limits on the termination of pregnancies.”
She noted that the Dobbs ruling of the US Supreme Court, which killed Roe v. Wade, has made it necessary for the state legislature to tackle the issue of “life and how to protect life.”
Persons-Mulicka added that the draft law is based on the consensus among doctors and scientists that a fetus acquires a heartbeat by the 6th week of pregnancy.
At the same time, the GOP state representative noted her conviction that life starts at conception and would “protect life from day one.”
“We cannot predict what a future legislature might do,” Persons-Mulicka stated when asked whether a total abortion ban might be possible in the future.
Even though it would limit abortion to the sixth week of pregnancy, the new Florida state bill would allow exceptions for women who become pregnant through rape or incest. In such cases, abortions will be allowed up to the 15th week of gestation.
Another exception would allow an abortion if at least two doctors decided that a pregnant woman is in danger of dying or suffering “substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function” other than a psychological condition.
In such cases, even a single doctor’s recommendation would suffice if no second doctor is available.
Florida’s heartbeat bill also allows abortions through the first six months of pregnancy in the fetus is found to have an abnormality.
Two proposals were made to amend the draft law in the House committee step. The first was to permit informed consent through telehealth consultations for patients who live over 100 miles away from an abortion provider.
The amendment proposed by Democrat state Rep. Kelly Skidmore was rejected.
The second amendment, which was approved, came from Republican state Rep. Jennifer Canady and provided for allocating $25 million to expand the Florida Pregnancy Care Network.
Pro-abortionist critics refer to the network as “fake clinics” that seek to discourage women from having abortions.
Earlier this week, Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters he was prepared to sign the heartbeat bill.
Do you support or oppose heartbeat laws when it comes to abortion? Why or why not? Please share your opinion by emailing [email protected]. Thank you.
Florida's "heartbeat" abortion bill has cleared its second and final House committee of reference by a party-line vote, making the next step for the bill to go to the House floor. https://t.co/oaV3G0XXP3
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) March 30, 2023
