There was chaos in the Florida Capitol on Thursday with protesters flooding the building as the state House prepared to pass a bill that would ban abortions in Florida after six weeks.
The law is essentially a total ban on abortions, as most women don’t realize they are pregnant until after six weeks.
Dozens of protesters were seen screaming and handfuls of stickers and small slips of paper on legislators as they entered the chamber of the House.
According to local reports, the stickers provided information on how to receive abortion pills through the mail.
Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis supports the bill and has said he will sign it.
Protesters swarmed into the state capitol building in Tallahassee during a debate on a bill that would ban abortions after six weeks
If it becomes law, Florida would get one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country. The state already has a ban on abortion after 15 weeks, which is being challenged in the Florida Supreme Court. It is not yet clear when a decision will be made in that case.
During the debate over the six-week ban, Democratic lawmakers proposed more than 50 amendments to the bill, but also acknowledged the uphill battle they faced in the Republican-controlled legislature.
But House Speaker Paul Renner, a Republican, spent the afternoon rushing that process, giving each amendment about a minute before calling a vote, declaring the amendment failed, and moving on to the next.
Some observers in the gallery booed and shouted at his actions. “This is all just circus politics,” cried one.
Renner pushed back, warning observers that it is a privilege to watch the proceedings and reminding them that he can have the galleries emptied.
By noon those galleries were empty due to disturbances.
House Speaker Paul Renner, a Republican, spent the afternoon rushing the amendment process
Florida State Representative Anna Eskamani, a Democrat (speaking in pink) proposed several amendments that failed
State Representative Anna Eskamani, a Democrat, proposed an amendment that would delay the enactment of the ban under the King Charles Clause.
The amendment would keep the state’s current law in effect until ’21 years after the death of the last survivor of the descendants of King Charles III, King of England, living at the date of this declaration’.
This ‘last survivor’ is the year-old Princess Lilibet of Sussex, who lives in California.
Disney used the clause to evade DeSantis’ attempt to take control of its theme parks.
“If it works for Disney, it might work for me,” Eskamani said.
The amendment failed.
She also suggested renaming the bill “Forced Pregnancy Act.”
“Members, this amendment renames the bill to the Forced Pregnancy Act, which is essentially what it does,” she said. “That’s the amendment.”
“It will force people into pregnancy before they realize they are pregnant,” she added.
The amendment failed.
The bill, which has already been approved by the Florida Senate, includes exceptions for rape, incest and trafficking up to 15 weeks of pregnancy.
There is an exception for the life of the mother if two doctors declare in writing that the woman will die if she continues the pregnancy.
The bill also allocates $25 million for nonmedical anti-abortion clinics, which essentially promote pregnancy. Florida only funds $3 million a year to rape crisis centers.
More than a dozen states have restricted access to abortions after the overthrow of Roe V Wade
Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis supports the abortion ban and has said he will sign it
As of January 2023, 24 states have issued or are in the process of issuing restrictive bans.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, 12 states maintain near-total bans on abortion, with very limited exceptions. Four states have laws banning abortion after a certain point in pregnancy, which would have been unconstitutional under Roe.