Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill at Osceola County on Thursday banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy into law which takes effect July 1.
“We are here today to defend those who can’t defend themselves,” Governor DeSantis said. “I will be signing House Bill Five, which protects the rights of UN, unborn children starting at 15 weeks.”
“This is a time where these babies have beating hearts. They can move, they can taste, they can see, they can feel pain, they can suck their thumbs, and they have brain waves. And so this will represent the most significant protections for life that have been enacted in this state in a generation,” DeSantis added.
“If you look what’s going on in certain segments of our society, particularly amongst people who are affiliated with the far left of our political spectrum, of course, that’s overrepresented in places like Hollywood, in the media, and obviously in one of our major political parties. But they are now taking the position that babies can be aborted up to the 9th month, literally,” he continued.
“That is just fundamentally wrong. That is infanticide and that has no place,” DeSantis asserted.
Fox News reported:
The legislation allows for abortions past 15 weeks only in situations involving a “fatal fetal abnormality,” and makes no exceptions for rape or incest. The law limits the time an abortion is legal by nine weeks, as abortions were previously banned in the state past 24 weeks.
DeSantis emphasized that the legislation is not the only aspect of his pro-life agenda, adding that the bill also allocates funds to increase the number of infant mortality review boards across Florida.
DeSantis was joined by numerous pro-life activists at the bill signing event. Some of the activists shared stories of abortions they regretted, others of adopting children who had survived abortion attempts.
“There are two types of people that have led me to speak up,” said Heather Grall-Barwick, who said she had an abortion when she was 21. “The women who say that abortion does not cause mental distress, and the women in their 70s who had abortions and testified that just now they’re able to speak about them and the regret that they have felt for over 40 years.”
“I made a mistake that I cannot change, but I can let others learn from my mistake,” she added.
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