Florida Senate passes bill to ban abortions after 15 weeks

March 3 (UPI) -- Florida's Senate late Thursday passed controversial Republican legislation to ban abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, sending to Gov. Ron DeSantis' desk a bill that opponents say is an attack on women's autonomy.

Legislators voted 23 to 15 in favor of House Bill 5 that prohibits abortions after the gestational age of 15 weeks without exceptions for the pregnancy being the result of rape, incest or human trafficking. It is enforced by criminalizing doctors who offer abortion care after this time frame.

The previous Florida law barred abortions at 24 weeks and the new law states the medical procedure can be performed if two doctors certify that the termination of the pregnancy is necessary to save the pregnant person's life or if the fetus "has a fatal fetal abnormality."

The new law also defines gestation not as from the time of fertilization but from the first day of the last menstrual period.

The bill made it to the Senate after the House passed it 78 to 39 on Feb. 17.

"We have a duty to protect life," Kelli Stargel, the bill's author and state Republican senator, said in a statement following the vote. "I am grateful to my Senate colleagues for their support and look forward to seeing this pro-life legislation signed into law by Gov. DeSantis."

Florida Democrats railed against the bill, describing it as an attack on women's autonomy.

"We may not win this battle but the women of Florida are not done with this fight," State Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book said from the floor. "I know I'm willing to continue to fight for my daughter, for myself, for fellow survivors of sexual assault and for women everywhere."

Quoting the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Book said the option to have an abortion is central to a woman's life and dignity and is a decision she must make for herself.

When the government controls that decision for her, she continued quoting Ginsburg, it is treating the woman as less than an adult and are disadvantaging her because of her sex.

"This is the beginning, not the end," Book said.

Florida Planned Parenthood has described the abortion ban as "cruel and unconstitutional" and said "we will do everything in our power to stop this ban from going into effect."

"This governor likes to talk about 'the free state of Florida' but where is the freedom to control your own body and your own future? We must demand a veto and put this governor on notice that he'll be held accountable for his hypocrisy if he doesn't veto this direct attack on the most fundamental personal freedom," it said in a call to action.

DeSantis is widely expected to sign it into law.

The bill was fashioned after a Mississippi law, which is before the Supreme Court and challenges the landmark Roe vs. Wade decision that legalized the medical procedure in 1973.

The Supreme Court is also considering a Texas abortion ban that prohibits the practice from the point when cardiac activity of the fetus is detected, which occurs about six weeks into a pregnancy and before most know they are pregnant.

In December, the Supreme Court seemed to suggest that it may allow the Mississippi ban to stand.

"This cruel bill will amount to forced pregnancy for anyone who cannot obtain the care they need within this arbitrary time limit, and there is no greater governmental intrusion," Kara Gross, American Civil Liberties Union of Florida's legislative director and senior policy counsel, said in a statement. "Forcing someone to continue their pregnancy against their will, and keeping Floridians from accessing critical and essential reproductive healthcare is unconscionable and inhumane.

"It's a dangerous violation of a person's bodily autonomy and privacy," she said.