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Florida lawmaker files fetal heartbeat abortion bill: What this means
A Florida lawmaker has filed an abortion bill similar to the passed one in Texas, meaning it would ban many abortions from happening in the state.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - A Florida lawmaker has filed an abortion bill similar to the passed one in Texas, meaning it would ban many abortions from happening in the state.
A Republican state lawmaker from Volusia County filed HB 167 on Wednesday. If passed, doctors must conduct a test for the presence of a detectable fetal heartbeat in women seeking abortions. There are penalties for doctors who fail to do so. If a heartbeat is detected, an abortion cannot be performed.
The bill does list several exceptions though, including rape, incest, domestic violence, human trafficking, or if the woman has a diagnosed condition that would create a serious risk of impairing a major bodily function.
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The passed abortion bill in Texas bans all abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which is usually around six weeks after conception. Exceptions for rape or incest survivors do not exist in the Texas bill. The Supreme Court has declined to intervene on it as well.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis previously spoke about the Texas bill, stating "what they did in Texas was interesting, and I haven’t really been able to look enough about it, they’ve basically done this through private right of action, so it’s a little bit different than how a lot of these debates have gone, so we’ll have to look, I’m going to look more significantly at it.
Watch FOX 35 Orlando for the latest Central Florida news.
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