Getting an abortion is becoming increasingly complicated in the southern United States. The Florida state legislature on Thursday passed a ban on abortion after the sixth week of pregnancy. Most other states in the region already have similar legislation, which means fewer and fewer places for women to go.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court last year overturned a ruling that struck down nationwide abortion rights, women from across the Southeastern U.S. have traveled to Florida to terminate their pregnancies. The White House calls the new ban in the state “extreme and dangerous”.
Florida’s Republican-dominated House of Representatives passed the bill by a 70-to-40 vote. The Senate had already approved it earlier this month.
If Governor and presumptive presidential candidate Ron DeSantis signs his signature as expected, the law will go into effect. The law allows exceptions for abortions in cases of rape, incest and grave danger to the mother.
White House talks about dismantling ‘fundamental freedoms’
“The ban violates fundamental freedoms and is inconsistent with the views of the vast majority of the population of Florida and of the entire United States,” the White House said in a statement.
Up to four million women in Florida and another 15 million women in other southern states could be affected before many of them know they are pregnant, President Joe Biden’s office said. Republicans nevertheless “continue their work to dismantle our fundamental freedoms,” a spokesman said.
In Florida, abortions are now allowed up to 15 weeks after conception. A case is pending before the Supreme Court of the southern state.
