Bill To End Abortions After 15 Weeks Advances In Florida Senate

FLORIDA — A bill to virtually eliminate all abortions after 15 weeks got the green light when the Senate Committee on Health Policy advanced SB146, also known as "The Fetal and Infant Mortality Reduction ACT," on a party-line vote.

The Republican-backed bill would ban most abortions regardless of the circumstances—including even in instances of rape, incest, domestic violence or human trafficking. On Wednesday Sen. Lauren Book, a Democrat and victim of sexual assault herself, attempted to amend the bill to include those exceptions.

“We have to give these survivors a little grace,” Book said before her amendment failed. “If a girl or a woman does not want to carry a pregnancy to term because she did not consent to being raped, none of the members of this committee should be able to deny her a safe and legal abortion because she needed more time.”

Sen. Kelli Stargel, a Republican who sponsored the bill, noted her proposal was not an all-out ban on abortion and said allowing such exemptions would give criminals more room to hide sexual crimes.

"I think this amendment does nothing to solve the problems that we all agree are awful — rape, human trafficking, incest — and I will partner with you to fight these crimes and I will partner with you to take the people who are doing that to these children to the furthest extent of the law," she said. “But I don't think allowing those individuals to continue to hide their crimes by forcing the abortions or allowing those abortions are going to solve that problem.”

Critics of the bill, including the ACLU and other Democratic lawmakers, call it a prime example of unprecedented government overreach.

"The government has no business making decisions that should be made by a woman in consultation with their doctor and their family and imposing its ways on victims, whether it’s women's right to bodily autonomy, or limited government, or freedom," Democratic Sen. Annette Taddeo said in a statement.

"Republican leaders are showing us that the conservative values of freedom and limited government go right out the window when it comes to a woman’s choice about her own body," she continued.

More than 450 health care professionals across Florida recently signed an open letter to state lawmakers opposing the abortion ban at 15 weeks.

"Being denied abortion care can have serious long-lasting consequences for a person’s physical health, including leading to serious medical conditions during the end of pregnancy, and can inflict long-term harm on their emotional well-being and socioeconomic security," a portion of the letter reads. "The social and economic repercussions of being denied a wanted abortion are also felt by the person’s family–including their children."

The Florida 15-week ban proposal, which has been introduced in both the GOP-controlled House and Senate, contains exceptions if the abortion is necessary to save a mother's life, prevent serious injury to the mother or if the fetus has a fatal abnormality. Both bills are still in the committee stage.

Florida currently allows abortions up to 24 weeks.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, has signaled early support for the measure, saying his office welcomes the bills.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.