The White House on Thursday denounced as “extreme and dangerous” the new law prohibiting abortion after six weeks of pregnancy adopted by the Florida parliament.
“Today, the Republican-dominated Florida legislature sent an extreme and dangerous new law to the office of governor. [Ron] DeSantis to sign it,” U.S. executive spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre blasted in a statement.
Approved by 70 votes in favor and 40 against by the elected officials of this state in the south-east of the country, the law must indeed be signed by the rising star of the American populist right and possible pretender to the White House, Ron DeSantis, which has already indicated its intention to promulgate it.
The entry into force of this ban will make Florida one of the states that restricts abortion the most without banning it, since the US Supreme Court, dominated by conservative justices, overturned a year ago the constitutional protection of abortion in the territory, leaving the various states free to legislate.
This law also signs a new resounding victory for opponents of abortion in the United States, at a time when the future of the abortion pill is threatened, after restrictions on access to this stamp decided on Thursday by an appeals court .
The only exceptions taken into account by Florida law are those of a “serious risk” to the health of the woman or a fatal anomaly of the fetus, as well as in the event of rape or incest, within the limit 15 weeks of pregnancy.
“This law prohibits legal abortion, but it will not stop abortion in practice. Abortions will simply be performed in private, without medical supervision and with increased risk to women’s health and physical and mental well-being,” Florida Democrat Lindsay Cross said.
Florida had already banned abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy in April 2022.