Florida’s Republican legislative leaders say Sunshine State lawmakers could soon consider implementing a Texas-style abortion law.
The Texas legislation prohibits abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which is typically around six weeks, and it lets private citizens sue anyone who helps a person facing that circumstance get an abortion.
Florida House Speaker Chris Sprowls said he expects lawmakers to take up a similar bill during the legislative session that starts in January, according to the News Service of Florida. In a separate statement, Senate President Wilton Simpson said he thinks it’s “worthwhile” for Florida to look into the Texas law.
Democratic lawmakers followed up with their own statements pledging to stand firm against efforts to implement such rules.
“Most women don’t even know that they are pregnant before six weeks. These kinds of measures are draconian, cruel, and have no place in a modern society. So long as the bodily autonomy and self-determination of women are under attack, I vow to give those who seek to oppress reproductive rights the fight of their lives," Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book said in a statement.
Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Executive Director, Laura Goodhue, said passing Texas-style abortion legislation in Florida would be “devastating...for the entire Southeastern United States.”
