State Sen. Tracie Davis, D-Jacksonville, recalls her 2011 abortion after sustaining an ectopic pregnancy. She spoke during a campaign event May 1, 2024, at the Prime Osborn Convention Center in Jacksonville. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
Published on February 19, 2025 at 1:26 pm
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Four female lawmakers called Wednesday for a repeal of Florida’s six-week abortion ban.
Senate Minority Leader Pro Tem Tracie Davis, D-Jacksonville, and House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, D-Tampa, have filed bills to repeal the abortion law.
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Davis pointed to the 57% of Florida voters who voted for Amendment 4 in the November general election. Amendment 4 would have enshrined abortion rights in the Florida Constitution, but it needed 60% support to pass.
Florida’s six-week abortion ban took effect in May. It prohibits abortions after six weeks of pregnancy except in cases of rape, incest or fatal fetal abnormalities, or if the pregnant person’s life is in danger.
Davis said the Florida law prohibits safe, regulated abortions.
“Women are forced to bleed out, experience sepsis, to watch non-vital fetuses die, and to suffer consistently to uphold a bill written by men who will never go through this themselves,” Davis said Tuesday.
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Davis’ bill (SB 870) would restore Florida’s laws to their status before Roe v. Wade was overturned.
Other lawmakers speaking out Wednesday were Rep. Rita Harris, D-Orlando, and Rep. Anna Eskamani, also D-Orlando.
Eskamani said she doesn’t doubt that women are turning to what could be unsafe means to end pregnancies. If something goes wrong, she said, they may avoid emergency care for fear of prosecution.
The Florida Legislative session starts March 4.
