JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The president of the Florida Senate said state legislators will consider a similar bill to Texas’ controversial new abortion law.
It bans most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy. Texas abortion providers estimate about 85% of patients seeking abortions are already past that mark.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday that he “welcome[s] pro-life legislation” and would “look more significantly” at the Texas law.
Republican Rep. Cord Byrd of Duval County said it got his attention when the Supreme Court didn’t intervene in Texas’ new abortion law.
“The speaker of the House has made a statement, the governor has come out and said he’s interested in it, and certainly the Senate president has all three said that it’s something they are going to look at and consider for the next legislative session,” Byrd said.
Democrat Rep. Anna Eskamani of Orange County said she finds the Texas law horrifying.
“This is the most extreme abortion ban in the country, not only banning abortion at six weeks when most folks do not even know they are pregnant, but it goes as far to establish a bounty, a $10,000 bounty on the heads of those who helped someone access an abortion after six weeks in Texas,” Eskamani said.
The state Senate president, Wilton Simpson, told WFLA that he does not support the Texas law’s $10,000 incentive for citizens to sue those suspected of helping someone get an abortion.
“I want to sit down with the Texas law and really give it some thought before I would say that’s what we should do here,” Byrd said.
Eskamani knows how she feels about that provision.
“It’s disgusting,” she said. “It demonstrates that there is more value being placed on hunting down people who end a pregnancy versus actually supporting them in their decisions.”
Six-week abortion bans have previously failed in Florida. Byrd said they typically have a hard time getting through the state Senate, but he’s now encouraged by the Senate president’s willingness to consider a similar law.
“I would suspect, and again I don’t speak for the Senate president, that he wouldn’t come out and make such a bold statement unless he thought he had the support from his caucus for passing that bill,” Byrd said.
Eskamani said she believes it’s time for more legal protections for a woman’s right to choose.
“This is an opportunity for us to go beyond Roe v. Wade and to pick a side, where you stand on an issue that has always been dubbed as political one, but at the end of the day is about basic human rights and supporting an individual making a personal decision,” she said.
Eskamani also noted this abortion law would especially affect vulnerable communities, including rural communities, communities of color and of those who may not have the ability to travel to receive abortions.