Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis solutions questions from the media within the Florida Cabinet following his State of the State deal with throughout a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives on March 7, 2023, on the state Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla.

Phil Sears/AP

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Phil Sears/AP

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis solutions questions from the media within the Florida Cabinet following his State of the State deal with throughout a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives on March 7, 2023, on the state Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla.

Phil Sears/AP

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Republican-dominated Florida Legislature on Thursday accepted a ban on abortions after six weeks of being pregnant, a proposal signed into regulation later within the day by GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis as he prepares for an anticipated presidential run.

The ban provides DeSantis a key political victory amongst Republican major voters as he prepares to launch a presidential candidacy constructed on his nationwide model as a conservative normal bearer.

The governor’s workplace mentioned in an announcement late Thursday that he had signed the laws.

The six-week ban will take impact provided that the state’s present 15-week ban is upheld in an ongoing authorized problem that’s earlier than the state Supreme Court, which is managed by conservatives.

The coverage would have wider implications for abortion entry all through the South within the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last year overturning Roe v. Wade and leaving selections about abortion entry to states. Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi have banned abortion in any respect levels of being pregnant, whereas Georgia forbids the process after cardiac exercise will be detected, which is round six weeks.

“We have the opportunity to lead the national debate about the importance of protecting life and giving every child the opportunity to be born and find his or her purpose,” mentioned Republican Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka, who carried the invoice within the House.

Democrats and abortion-rights teams have criticized Florida’s proposal as excessive.

“This ban would prevent four million Florida women of reproductive age from accessing abortion care after six weeks — before many women even know they’re pregnant,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre mentioned in an announcement issued after Thursday’s vote. “This ban would also impact the nearly 15 million women of reproductive age who live in abortion-banning states throughout the South, many of whom have previously relied on travel to Florida as an option to access care.”

A bunch activists gathered outdoors the Tallahassee City Hall constructing to protest SB 300, which might place a ban on abortions after six weeks, Monday, April 3, 2023, in Tallahassee, Fla.

Alicia Devine/AP

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Alicia Devine/AP

A bunch activists gathered outdoors the Tallahassee City Hall constructing to protest SB 300, which might place a ban on abortions after six weeks, Monday, April 3, 2023, in Tallahassee, Fla.

Alicia Devine/AP

The regulation comprises some exceptions, together with to avoid wasting the girl’s life. Abortions for pregnancies involving rape or incest could be allowed till 15 weeks of being pregnant, offered a lady has documentation similar to a restraining order or police report. DeSantis has referred to as the rape and incest provisions smart.

Drugs utilized in medication-induced abortions — which make up the vast majority of these offered nationally — may very well be distributed solely in individual or by a doctor beneath the Florida regulation. Separately, nationwide entry to the abortion capsule mifepristone is being challenged in court docket.

“I can’t think of any bill that’s going to provide more protections to more people who are more vulnerable than this piece of legislation,” mentioned Republican Rep. Mike Beltran, who mentioned the invoice’s exceptions and six-week timeframe represented a compromise.

Abortion bans are common amongst some spiritual conservatives who’re a part of the GOP voting base, however the difficulty has motivated many others to vote for Democrats. Republicans in current weeks and months have suffered defeats in elections centered on abortion entry in states similar to Kentucky, Michigan and Wisconsin.

“Have we learned nothing?” House Democratic Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell mentioned of current elections in different states. “Do we not listen to our constituents and to the people of Florida and what they are asking for?”

DeSantis, who usually locations himself on the entrance strains of tradition conflict points, had mentioned he backs the six-week ban however had appeared uncharacteristically tepid on the invoice. He has usually mentioned, “We welcome pro-life legislation,” when requested concerning the coverage.

DeSantis is predicted to announce his presidential candidacy after the session ends in May, along with his potential White House run partly buoyed by the conservative insurance policies accepted by the Republican supermajority within the Statehouse this 12 months.

Democrats, with out energy at any stage of state authorities, had principally turned to stall techniques and protests to oppose the invoice, which simply handed each chambers on largely party-line votes. The Senate accepted it final week, and the House did so Thursday.

A Democratic senator and chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party had been arrested and charged with trespassing throughout a protest in Tallahassee towards the six-week ban. In a final ditch transfer to delay the invoice’s passage within the House on Thursday, Democrats filed dozens of amendments to the proposal, all of which had been rejected by Republicans.

“Women’s health and their personal right to choose is being stolen,” mentioned Democratic Rep. Felicia Simone Robinson. “So I ask: Is Florida truly a free state?”