Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation on Thursday to shorten the state’s abortion deadline from 15 weeks to six weeks, hours after the White House described the measure as “extreme and dangerous”.

Florida joins the list of states that completely or nearly completely ban abortions after overturning the Roe VS Wade ruling that gave constitutional protection to the practice of abortion in the United States.

“We are proud to support life and family in the state of Florida,” said DeSantis, new star to the right American and possible Republican presidential candidate in 2024, in a statement released late at night.

It didn’t take the governor long to sign a text approved hours earlier by the House with 70 votes in favor and 40 against, a week after the advance in the Senate.

The second time

It is the second time in a year that both Florida Houses of Republican majority, they vote on a project to reduce the legal terms of abortion. In April 2022, DeSantis signed into law that reduced from 24 to 15 weeksno exceptions for rape or incest.

The White House has ensured that the reduction of the deadline to six weeks”goes against fundamental freedoms and is not in line with the views of the vast majority” of Americans, according to a statement by his press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre.

“This ban would prevent four million women women of reproductive age to access abortion services after six weeks, before many women even know they are pregnant“, He added.

The new law stipulates that within this period, women will not be able to have an abortion in Florida unless the fetus is viablethat pregnancy endanger the motheror that it is the fruit of a rape or incest and not to exceed 15 weeks.

The bill will not go into effect until the Florida Supreme Court rules an appeal presented by various associations against the 15-week limit, arguing the law violates a state privacy clause.

Defenders of the new term assure us that it is necessary to protect the lives of innocent beings.

Democratic opposition and pro-abortion activists say the state should not interfere in a personal decision and warn of the negative consequences for many women.

“This bill legally prohibits abortion, but it won’t actually ban itDemocrat Congresswoman Lindsay Cross said during the lower house debate. “Abortions be done in private, without medical supervision and with an increasing risk to women’s health, physical and mental well-being”.

According to a survey by the NGO Public Religion Research Institute64% of Floridians believe abortions should be permitted in all or most cases.

Despite the 15-week limit, Florida remains one of the most lenient places for abortions in the southeastern United States, prompting numerous pregnant women to travel there from neighboring states to terminate their pregnancies in recent months.

The law signed on Thursday could put an end to that situation and represents a new victory for anti-abortion activists, just hours after the United States restricted access to mifepristone, a drug used to terminate a pregnancy, following a court decision . .

AFP, RFI and AP