Florida's new 6-week abortion ban explained

Roe vs. Wade rally — Signs at the “Bans Off Our Bodies” rally along the downtown waterfront of St. Petersburg, Florida. By Seán Kinane/WMNF News (24 June 2022).

Last Thursday the Florida House passed and the governor quietly signed a law that outlaws most abortions in Florida after six weeks of gestation. That’s before most pregnant people even know they’re carrying an embryo.

Amy Weintraub is the reproductive rights program director at Progress Florida and was a guest on WMNF’s Tuesday Cafe (18 April 2023).

“These are really, really scary times. And for those of us on the ground, in many ways, we saw it coming. We’ve been sort of feeling like the boy who cried wolf for many years.

“Saying it as we watched the legislature — the makeup of the legislature — shift to radical right.

“Folks being in there and then getting more and more seats to now having supermajorities.

“We sort of knew it was coming. But still — to see this — restrictions being imposed on Floridians. It is absolutely heartbreaking.

“And we know that it is the people who have the fewest resources who are going to be impacted.

“And that makes it very, very for those of us who care about humanity and who care about things like economic justice and fairness. It makes it so stressful.”

The new law won’t take effect immediately. First up is the legal resolution of a restrictive 15-week abortion ban that was signed last year by Governor DeSantis. It’s being challenged based on the state constitution’s protection of privacy.

Listen to the show here:

A sponsor in the House, Republican Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka: “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.”

There are also legal challenges outside Florida to non-surgical abortions. The most common form is a two-pill sequence: mifepristone and misoprostol.

Weintraub is a member of WMNF’s Community Advisory Board and Programming Committee.

On the show, we heard stories from WMNF about the House vote and from WSLR about an abortion rights protest in Tallahassee.