Florida Republicans near 15-week abortion ban

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Abortions after 15 weeks would be banned in Florida under a Republican bill scheduled for final consideration in the GOP-controlled Senate later Thursday.

The proposal, which is expected to have enough support for final passage, has caused bitter debate as it moved through the legislature, as Republicans repeatedly rejected attempts from Democrats to add exemptions for pregnancies caused by rape, incest or human trafficking.

Republicans across the country have moved to tighten access to the procedure after the U.S. Supreme Court signaled it would uphold Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban and potentially overturn Roe v. Wade. A decision in that case is expected later this year.

The Florida bill contains exceptions if the abortion is necessary to save a mother’s life, prevent serious injury to the mother or if the fetus has a fatal abnormality. The state currently allows abortions up to 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Sen. Lauren Book, a sexual abuse survivor who tried to amend the bill to allow exemptions for rape, incest or human trafficking, revealed publicly for the first time Wednesday an additional incident in her life. On the Senate floor, as she pleaded with lawmakers to add the exceptions, Book spoke of how she was drugged and raped by multiple men when she was a young teenager.

“It's not OK to force someone who's been sexually assaulted and impregnated to carry that pregnancy to term if they don't want too, it's just not,” Book, a Democrat, said through tears on the Senate floor. “And if a woman or a girl needs more than 15 weeks to decide, we should be able to give that to her.”

Republicans have said the bill is reasonable and gives women enough time to consider whether to get an abortion.

“This bill does not ban abortion. You have the opportunity, if you so choose, to...