Florida Senate passes bill banning abortions after 15 weeks with no exceptions for rape or incest

‘This bill puts politicians, bureaucrats and the government between a woman and her access to health care’

Florida governor Ron DeSantis is expected to now sign the bill into law (Associated Press)

Florida legislators voted on Thursday to ban most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

The move will restrict access to abortion in Florida and will put it one step closer to adopting a gestational limit — currently under review by the US Supreme Court.

The senators sent the bill to Governor Ron DeSantis for him to sign it into law.

Mr DeSantis’ spokesperson had said earlier in the day that “Governor DeSantis is pro-life and has voiced support for the concepts in this bill,” his spokesperson, Christina Pushaw, said.

Senator Janet Cruz, a Democrat from Tampa, said on Thursday: “This bill puts politicians, bureaucrats and the government between a woman and her access to health care. It will absolutely result in women seeking unsafe abortions and dying as a result.”

Florida currently allows abortions until 24 weeks of pregnancy.

The new proposal was passed by a 23-15 vote on Thursday.

The more restrictive abortion bill passed by the Florida legislators has no exception for cases of rape or incest.

On Wednesday, Republicans had defeated an amendment — sought by the Democrats — that would have made exceptions for rape, incest and human trafficking.

The Democrats had asked their colleagues in the Senate to focus on the emotional needs of pregnant victims of sexual assault.

“We’re better than this," state Senator Victor Torres had said.

Senator Kate Stargel — the bill’s sponsor and who defended the bill’s exclusion of rape — said that she rejected the premise that a “child should be killed because of the circumstances in which it was conceived.”

On Thursday, before the vote, Senator Danny Burgess — a Zephyrhills Republican — told New York Times: “A child in the womb is the most vulnerable person in the world because they’re utterly helpless. They have no voice, they have no vote. They rely on another person for everything, and they still matter.”

Andrew Shirvell, the founder of an anti-abortion group, Florida Voice for the Unborn said senators at a committee hearing that this was a “great start. But you all need to do a heck of a lot more.”

According to data available, last year, out of the roughly 68,500 abortions performed in Florida, about 4,100 were performed between 13 to 24 weeks of pregnancy.