All eyes on Florida Senate, US Supreme Court as Florida’s 15-week abortion ban clears the House

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — In Florida, it is already illegal to perform an abortion after 24 weeks of pregnancy, soon that could be reduced to 15 weeks, with no exceptions for rape, incest, or human trafficking.

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On Wednesday night into Thursday morning, members of the Florida House debated the 15-week abortion ban (HB 5). While Democrats basted the bill for its strict rules after 15 weeks, they did not have the votes to stop it from passing the House, setting up the next showdown in the Florida Senate, where Republicans have the majority as well.

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Since the bill was filed on the first day of the session, Democrats have attempted to amend it to include exceptions, however, those amendments have been voted down with Republicans and pro-life supporters saying after 15 weeks, life needs to be protected.

“I think that we should execute the rapist not the innocent party, capital punishment should be given to the parties who are guilty not to the party who is innocent,” says John Stemberger of the pro-life Florida Family Policy Council. “Every child has life, irrespective of how that child comes about.”

While there are exceptions in the bill for the health of the mother or if the fetus has a fatal defect, the bill will essentially forbid all abortions after 15 weeks, a deadline that many doctors say is arbitrary and not backed by medical science.

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“A fetus would not survive through artificial means after 15 weeks, this is not accurate science,” says Dr. Katherine Sutherland a central Florida OBGYN.

Doctors like Sutherland also note that determining exactly how long a woman has been pregnant is difficult and up to interpretation.

“It’s probably a two-week margin or so,” says Dr. Sutherland. “A really accurate anatomy ultrasound scan is probably best done above 16 weeks and so that’s the other very unfortunate thing about choosing a 15-week cutoff is that there will be anatomical defects sometimes very serious, sometimes fatal that won’t be detected at that stage.”

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Backers of the House bill admit they chose the 15-week cutoff to align Florida with Mississippi’s abortion ban. Last year the US Supreme Court heard arguments in the Mississippi case but has yet to hand down a decision.

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