Florida's Republican Governor Ron DeSantis expressed his desire to pass abortion laws similar to Texas' newly-enacted heartbeat bill which restricts abortion to just six weeks of pregnancy. The controversial bill now criminalizes abortions earlier, often during a period where pregnant moms are yet unaware of their pregnancy. The same might happen in Florida in the future, if Gov. DeSantis is to be heard by lawmakers.
"What they did in Texas was interesting and I haven't really been able to look enough into it. I am going to look more significantly at it," Gov. DeSantis said during a news conference at West Palm Beach, as reported by CBN News.
On Wednesday, a divisive 5-4 vote from the high court denied an emergency appeal filed by Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers that hoped to block it. The court decided not to rule on the law's constitutionality or block other challenges.
Encouraged by the success of on the law's constitutionality, lawmakers in Florida are already working on pro-life bills for the next session slated to begin in January. This includes a fetal heartbeat bill.
Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson expressed his interest in pushing for more pro-life laws, saying, "When the Supreme Court goes out and makes a decision like this, it clearly is going to send a signal to all the states that are interested in banning abortions or making it more restrictive to have an abortion in their state. It's certainly going to make us take a look at those issues."
ABC News reported that Florida House Speaker Chris Sprowls is also looking to pass more anti-abortion measures or pro-life laws, but hesitated when it comes to those similar to Texas' newly-enacted heartbeat bill.
He said in a statement that Florida agrees that "killing an innocent human being with a beating heart is wrong" and that they have tirelessly "worked every session to strengthen protections for unborn babies, including those for unborn children with disabilities." He added that he was "confident" that those who shared this "moral view" in the House would continue to push for such laws.
NBC News and MSNBC legal analyst and a former U.S. attorney in the Northern District of Alabama Joyce Vance said that "it seems very likely that whether they actively reverse Roe, saying that Roe is no longer the law, cases like this will make inroads that will lead to gutting the protections that Roe has provided."
The landmark decision on Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion in the U.S. is now close to being overturned because of Texas' newly-enacted heartbeat bill, much to the delight of pro-life advocates all over the country. The Supreme Court will consider Texas' approval of restrictive abortion laws when it hears a Mississippi case later this year, which aims to overturn Roe v. Wade, CNBC reported. Pro-life advocates are confident about this, given a mostly conservative Supreme Court set of justices.
