Florida Senate Sends 15-Week Limit on Late Abortions to Gov. DeSantis’ Desk

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 4, 2022 
Contact: Mary Owens, [email protected] 

SBA List Honors Senate Sponsor Kelli Stargel With Leadership Award

Washington, D.C.The national pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) celebrated today as the Florida Senate passed legislation to stop late abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. H.B. 5 and S.B. 146, introduced by State Rep. Erin Grall and State Sen. Kelli Stargel respectively, would be the strongest protections for unborn children and their mothers in state history if enacted. The legislation passed the House last month and now heads to Governor Ron DeSantis, who has stated that he supports a 15-week abortion limit.

SBA List recently presented Stargel with its Torchbearer Award for outstanding leadership at the state level. Stargel is a member of SBA List’s National Pro-Life Caucus and has authored more pro-life legislation than any other Florida legislator during her career.

“We thank all our allies in the Florida Legislature, especially Sen. Kelli Stargel and Rep. Erin Grall, who worked hard to pass commonsense limits on late abortions. We’re excited this legislation is on its way to Governor DeSantis,” said SBA List State Policy Director Sue Liebel. “At a time when pro-abortion extremists in Washington are pushing a deeply unpopular agenda of abortion on demand until the moment of birth, states like Florida are fighting back to assert the will of the people. This humane legislation would save more than 3,000 lives a year in Florida by limiting abortion at a point when science shows unborn babies can feel pain. Floridians of all stripes agree this would be a significant step forward for the Sunshine State. We appreciate Gov. DeSantis’ strong stand for women and children and greatly look forward to seeing him sign this bill into law.”

Charlotte Lozier Institute, SBA List’s research arm, estimates that 3,334 abortions at 15 weeks’ gestation or later were performed in Florida in 2020, based on data from the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration.

Polling released in 2019 shows 76% of Florida voters – including 64% of Democrats, 75% of Independents, 77% of women, and 53% of self-described pro-choice voters – support a law prohibiting late-term abortions (only 24% support allowing late-term abortions).

In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case involving a Mississippi law that limits abortion after 15 weeks, the Supreme Court will address whether all pre-viability abortion limits are unconstitutional. A decision is expected in the spring or summer of 2022.

SBA List is a network of 900,000 pro-life Americans nationwide, dedicated to ending abortion by electing national leaders and advocating for laws that save lives, with a special calling to promote pro-life women leaders. 

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