6-week abortion ban

Florida’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee was created two decades ago to investigate why Florida moms are dying during and after pregnancy – and to stop preventable deaths from happening in the first place. But the secretive panel housed within the Florida Department of Health hadn’t publicly released any annual findings in years until a Florida Trib reporter asked agency officials last week about the committee’s apparent lack of action.

MediaLab@FAU, in conjunction with PolCom Lab and Mainstreet Research, surveyed Florida’s voters on abortion and constitutional amendment thresholds. Most respondents opposed the six-week abortion ban, including many who voted to give Donald Trump a second term as president.

Florida’s election will test whether the state maintains its new reputation as a Republican stronghold, as Democrats count on turnout for abortion rights and recreational marijuana ballot questions.

Ahead of the contested November election, pro-choice advocacy groups are urging Hispanic voters to support Amendment 4, which would make access to abortion — before fetal viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health — a state constitutional right.

Florida has been a major access point for abortion in the South. Now its residents, along with thousands more in the region, will have to seek abortion care elsewhere after six weeks of pregnancy.

Senate Democratic leader Lauren Book says that while the governor has stated women would not be charged under a new six-week abortion ban, "we’re not just going to take his word for it, we’re fighting to ensure it."

The state Senate's GOP-controlled Committee on Health Policy approved the measure, while a companion House bill also cleared its first committee hearing.

After lawmakers passed a 15-week limit last year, the Florida House on Thursday started moving forward with a proposal that would prevent abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.