Florida could follow the Texas model in trying to limit abortions.
On Thursday, some GOP leaders in the Florida Legislature said they would welcome the opportunity to consider an abortion ban like Texas just adopted.
The Texas “heartbeat” law bans most abortions after a heartbeat is detected in the fetus. That is noticeable around six weeks into pregnancy.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on Wednesday to reject a request for an injunction blocking the law from taking effect until anticipated lawsuits are hashed out.
Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson, a Republican from Trilby, lauded the Texas measure as “a new approach,” and added that the Supreme Court majority’s vote was “encouraging.”
“As an adoptive child myself, it’s important to me that we do everything we can to promote adoption and prevent abortion; therefore, I think it’s worthwhile to take a look at the Texas law and see if there is more we can do here in Florida,” the Senate leader said in a statement.
Simpson added that “investments in child welfare programs create an environment in our state where young parents can feel confident that there are options other than abortion and they will be supported in their decision to choose life for their babies.”
Florida House Speaker Chris Sprowls, a Palm Harbor Republican, said in his own statement that the issue will be considered in 2022.
“In Florida, we agree that killing an innocent human being with a beating heart is wrong,” he said in his comments. “It is why we have worked every session to strengthen protections for unborn babies, including those for unborn children with disabilities last session, and it is why I am confident that those who share this moral view in the Florida House will continue the fight.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis urged caution in trying to interpret the Supreme Court’s ruling. He noted the nation’s high court will likely take another look at the Texas law once opponents press the case of its constitutionality.
Still, according to the News Service of Florida, DeSantis added, “I do think that at the end of the day, the science on this has been very powerful now for a long time. If you go back 40 years ago, what people thought versus what they can see now, very, very powerful.”
DeSantis was among 11 GOP governors who signed a brief in a still-unresolved Mississippi abortion case that called for overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision and allow states to settle abortion laws.
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