A stricter, six-week ban on abortion goes into effect in Florida Wednesday, meaning a woman has just six weeks to terminate her pregnancy rather than 15. The updated ban, the “Heartbeat Protection Act,” was signed into law through the Florida High Court with support from Governor Ron DeSantis. On April 1, the state’s Supreme Court upheld a 15-week ban after it found Florida’s constitutional privacy protections do not extend to the intentional killing of a human with a heartbeat in a mother’s womb; included in the decision that meant the stricter, six-week ban would automatically go into effect May 1. Florida’s six-week ban has exceptions in instances of rape, incest, rare fetal illnesses, or complications that threaten the mother’s life. “Based on our analysis finding no clear right to abortion embodied within the Privacy Clause, Planned Parenthood cannot overcome the presumption of constitutionality and is unable to demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that the 15-week ban is unconstitutional,” wrote Justice Jamie R. Grosshans.The court said in a separate decision Florida residents will have a chance to vote to expand expand abortion access in November, reported the Daily Wire. A similar six-week abortion ban took effect in Texas in 2021, and the state’s abortion rate decreased by half. When enforced in South Carolina in August 2023, the abortion rate plummeted 70%, per CNN. Delaware, Maryland and Virginia are the only states in the southeast census region where abortion is legal past the first trimester. North Carolina has a 12-week limit.The Chicago Abortion Fund, an abortion clinic in Chicago, IL, has claimed it needs an additional $100,000 each month in anticipation of the out-of-state influx of women seeking to terminate their pregnancies due to the Florida ban. “A very important decision about the life of a preborn child,” said Reginald Hobbs of the Tampa Bay Pro-Life Alliance., per WFLA News Channel 8.“It’s a step in the right direction in creating a culture of life here in the state of Florida.”Meanwhile, CEO of Ruth’s List Florida Christina Diamond said the 15-week ban was already “considered pretty extreme.”“Now, with a six-week ban, women don’t even know that they’re pregnant at six weeks,” she said. The Arizona Senate is scheduled to vote Wednesday to repeal a 160-year-old abortion ban. It would go immediately to Democrat Gov. Katie Hobbs, who has already said she plans to sign it. The motion was passed last week in the Arizona House after some Republicans broke party ranks and voted alongside Democrats to pass it to the Senate. If just two Republicans break ranks for Wednesday's vote, the bill would pass, per CNN. The original 1864 law banning abortions was brought back on the table by an April 9 Arizona Supreme Court ruling. If Democrats are successful in their pursuit to repeal the abortion ban, certain restrictions would still be in effect, including a 2022 state law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
A stricter, six-week ban on abortion goes into effect in Florida Wednesday, meaning a woman has just six weeks to terminate her pregnancy rather than 15. The updated ban, the “Heartbeat Protection Act,” was signed into law through the Florida High Court with support from Governor Ron DeSantis. On April 1, the state’s Supreme Court upheld a 15-week ban after it found Florida’s constitutional privacy protections do not extend to the intentional killing of a human with a heartbeat in a mother’s womb; included in the decision that meant the stricter, six-week ban would automatically go into effect May 1. Florida’s six-week ban has exceptions in instances of rape, incest, rare fetal illnesses, or complications that threaten the mother’s life. “Based on our analysis finding no clear right to abortion embodied within the Privacy Clause, Planned Parenthood cannot overcome the presumption of constitutionality and is unable to demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that the 15-week ban is unconstitutional,” wrote Justice Jamie R. Grosshans.The court said in a separate decision Florida residents will have a chance to vote to expand expand abortion access in November, reported the Daily Wire. A similar six-week abortion ban took effect in Texas in 2021, and the state’s abortion rate decreased by half. When enforced in South Carolina in August 2023, the abortion rate plummeted 70%, per CNN. Delaware, Maryland and Virginia are the only states in the southeast census region where abortion is legal past the first trimester. North Carolina has a 12-week limit.The Chicago Abortion Fund, an abortion clinic in Chicago, IL, has claimed it needs an additional $100,000 each month in anticipation of the out-of-state influx of women seeking to terminate their pregnancies due to the Florida ban. “A very important decision about the life of a preborn child,” said Reginald Hobbs of the Tampa Bay Pro-Life Alliance., per WFLA News Channel 8.“It’s a step in the right direction in creating a culture of life here in the state of Florida.”Meanwhile, CEO of Ruth’s List Florida Christina Diamond said the 15-week ban was already “considered pretty extreme.”“Now, with a six-week ban, women don’t even know that they’re pregnant at six weeks,” she said. The Arizona Senate is scheduled to vote Wednesday to repeal a 160-year-old abortion ban. It would go immediately to Democrat Gov. Katie Hobbs, who has already said she plans to sign it. The motion was passed last week in the Arizona House after some Republicans broke party ranks and voted alongside Democrats to pass it to the Senate. If just two Republicans break ranks for Wednesday's vote, the bill would pass, per CNN. The original 1864 law banning abortions was brought back on the table by an April 9 Arizona Supreme Court ruling. If Democrats are successful in their pursuit to repeal the abortion ban, certain restrictions would still be in effect, including a 2022 state law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
