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April 6, 2023On Monday, the Florida Senate passed the Heartbeat Protection Act, SB 300 (Grall), by a 26-13 vote.
"For fifty years the killing of innocent children has been legal," said bill sponsor Senator Erin Grall during her closing speech. "Legal does not equate to right. Those children were never given an opportunity to walk into this capitol and fight for their right to life. We are here and are able to do that for them."
The bill passed mostly along party lines with two Republican Senators, Corey Simon and Alexis Calatayud, joining with Senate democrats to vote against the bill.
SB 300 would limit when abortions can take place in Florida to the first six weeks of pregnancy - the stage in development when a heartbeat is first detectable. Exceptions to the six-week abortion ban are allowed for saving the life of the mother, for avoiding an irreversible and substantial impairment of a major bodily function of the mother, for fatal fetal abnormalities up to the third trimester, and for rape, incest or human trafficking up to 15 weeks gestation. Additionally, the measure prohibits state funding from assisting women traveling out of state to obtain abortion services and prohibits telehealth from being used to provide abortion services. While imperfect, the bill would be a tremendous improvement over current law and is strongly supported by the FCCB.
The bill also includes an increase from $4 million to $25 million to provide pregnancy and parenting support to women and their families.
The companion measure, HB 7 (Persons-Mulicka), has been placed on the House calendar on second reading. A vote is expected as early as next week.