Three weeks after it was filed, Florida’s six-week abortion ban has passed through its final committee in the Senate — and is scheduled to be heard by the full chamber later this week.
The proposed legislation, SB 300, would restrict abortion after six weeks of pregnancy in nearly all cases. There’s an exception for pregnancies as the result of rape or incest, but only up until 15 weeks and with documentation “providing evidence,” like a police report, medical record or restraining order.
Abortion rights advocates have argued that the law effectively amounts to a total ban on abortion in Florida, because many women may not know they’re pregnant by six weeks. When they do, it could take time to get into a clinic. It takes about 20 days for a Planned Parenthood patient in Central Florida to go through the required process to get an abortion, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
