Florida Passes Bill On Abortion Ban
Florida, Feb 17: The Republican-dominated Florida House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill to ban abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, thus reducing the termination period from 24 weeks.
The bill, passed in a 78-39 vote with two abstentions, outlaws almost all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, except for cases where it is necessary to save the life of a pregnant woman or to avert a substantial risk of significant and irreversible physical impairment, not including psychological disorder.
The bill makes no exemptions for cases of rape, incest, or human trafficking.
Amendments with these exclusions were rejected by Republican legislators. Yet the abortion may be allowed in the event the fetus has not reached viability and has a “fatal fetal abnormality.”
The bill will now proceed to the state Senate, which also maintains a Republican majority. The bill as passed introduces one of the toughest abortion bans across the US states, with a 15-week limit effective in Mississippi and a stricter 6-week limit in Texas. The rest of the states permit abortions in the period varying from 20 to 24 weeks.
