In the latest tightening of abortion laws in the United States, the Senate in Florida passed a broad ban on abortions after the 15th week. On Thursday, the southern state’s conservative-dominated Senate approved the restriction of abortions to the first 15 weeks of pregnancy. Florida’s governor, Republican Ron DeSantis, has yet to sign the law into law.
As a result, abortions in Florida later on would only be possible as an exception, for example if the life of the mother is in danger or the fetus has a fatal abnormality, as the USA Today newspaper reported. This makes it even more difficult for women in the US South to find a place to have a legal abortion. According to the New York Times, Florida has long been considered a refuge after neighboring states have passed stricter laws. The rule follows the model of the new Mississippi state abortion law currently under review by the Supreme Court.
Harris: Legislative change is ‘extreme in every way’
US President Joe Biden has sharply criticized the stricter abortion laws. The “dangerous law” that bans abortions after the 15th week will “severely restrict” women’s access to reproductive health care,” Biden said on Twitter on Friday. “My government will not allow the continued erosion of women’s constitutional rights.”
US Vice President Kamala Harris described the Florida law change as “extreme in every way”. She warned that women’s right to choose their own bodies is non-negotiable. “If signed into law in Florida, it would violate the constitutional right to abortion that the Supreme Court has recognized for nearly 50 years.”
According to a landmark ruling by the US Supreme Court in 1973, abortions are actually legal in the USA up to the viability of the fetus – today around the 24th week of pregnancy. One as Roe v. A 1992 decision known to Wade also stipulates that the US states must not make it unreasonably difficult for women to have an abortion.
Particularly strict: Texas and the “heartbeat law”
However, under ex-President Donald Trump, the Supreme Court was given a clear conservative majority through new appointments. In the hope that Roe v. Wade is overturned, ultra-conservative states recently tightened their laws. For example, Texas introduced an extremely strict regulation with the so-called “heartbeat law”. A Supreme Court decision is expected in the summer.