The options for abortion in the southern United States are further restricted. The Florida legislature has approved a ban on abortion after the sixth week of pregnancy. The White House speaks of an “extreme and dangerous new abortion ban.”
Women from across the southeastern US have traveled to Florida to terminate their pregnancies since the US Supreme Court overturned a ruling last year that struck down nationwide abortion rights. Most other states in the region have already banned the procedure in the early stages of pregnancy.
Florida’s Republican-dominated House of Representatives passed the bill by a vote of 70 to 40. The Senate had already approved it earlier this month. If Governor and presumptive presidential candidate Ron DeSantis signs his signature as expected, the law will go into effect. It allows exceptions for abortions in cases of rape, incest and grave danger to the mother.
“The ban violates fundamental freedoms and is inconsistent with the views of the vast majority of the population of Florida and of the entire United States,” the White House said in a statement. Up to four million women in Florida and another 15 million in other Southern states could be affected before many of them know they are pregnant, President Joe Biden’s office said. Republicans will nevertheless “continue their work to dismantle our fundamental freedoms,” a spokesman said.
In Florida, abortions are now allowed up to 15 weeks after conception. A case is pending before the Supreme Court of the southern state.
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