DeSantis Signs Six-Week Abortion Ban In Florida As GOP Primary Heats Up

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed into law a six-week abortion ban, a move made possible by the reversal of Roe v. Wade in June 2022.

DeSantis signed the bill just hours after Florida’s Republican-controlled legislature passed the measure on Thursday afternoon.

“Signed the Heartbeat Protection Act, which expands pro-life protections and devotes resources to help young mothers and families,” tweeted DeSantis after enacting the bill.

The bill comes as DeSantis is expected to soon announce his candidacy for president in 2024. While bolstering his credibility with anti-abortion activists may boost DeSantis in a potential primary race against former President Donald Trump, it is less clear how the act will be perceived in a general election showdown.

The reversal of Roe vs. Wade continues to be widely considered a polarizing event, and some experts believe that it may have been a detriment to Republicans who underperformed in the November 2022 midterm elections.

Conservative activists have nonetheless pushed forward, and Florida is just the latest of many GOP-dominated state governments to effectively ban the procedure. Until now, Florida was considered a safe-haven for abortion-seekers in southern Republican-controlled states due to the once relatively protected status of abortion in the state.

The move comes less than a week after Texas federal Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ruled that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) incorrectly approved Mifepristone 20 years ago, effectively banning the first part of a highly common and effective two-drug abortion regimen. Judge Thomas Rice from Washington ruled a similar case in a conflicting direction later that day, setting up a Supreme Court case to decide the issue.

Florida joins at least 12 other states which have a six-week abortion ban, a point in pregnancy when most people don’t know that they are pregnant. Florida’s law does allow exceptions for victims of rape, incest and human trafficking as long as the victim provides a valid police report.