Florida is emerging as a hot spot for abortion activism, as thousands rallied across the state to protest a Republican proposal seeking to ban most abortions in the state and call on the Supreme Court to protect Roe v. Wade during a day of nationwide protests in defense of reproductive rights.
The rallies on Saturday show how the debate around abortion in the swing state of Florida is becoming even more divided in the wake of legislation that went into effect in Texas on Sept. 1 outlawing abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected.
Protesters in Tallahassee marched with signs that read, "Don't Texas my Florida," as a similar bill filed by state Republican Rep. Webster Barnaby making its way through the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature would also outlaw abortions when a heartbeat is detected, normally around six to eight weeks, before many people know they are pregnant.
As is the case in Texas, the proposed Florida law would allow for everyday Americans to sue anyone "aiding or abetting" an abortion procedure, including a taxi driver who unknowingly drops a patient off at a clinic, even years after the abortion took place -- and seek at least $10,000 in damages.
"I'm extremely sad that in 2021, women still don't have basic human rights," said Emily Fingerhut, 32, of Fort Pierce, Fla., according to the Palm Beach Post. "If people were truly pro-life, they would support free health care and free contraception and allow us to own our own bodies."
At this point, Barnaby's HB 167 is in the hands of the Professions & Public Health Subcommittee of the Florida House of Representatives -- a group made up of 12 Republicans and six Democrats.
The Florida legislature has previously chosen not to pass bills seeking to similarly restrict abortions past the point where fetal cardiac activity can be detected, but anti-abortion activists believe the Supreme Court's decision to let the Texas "heartbeat ban" stand could change things.
Republicans in the state have vowed to come forward with more restrictive legislation in the wake of the legislation passed in Texas, but it's unclear whether Barnaby's bill will be their preferred path forward.
Unlike the Texas law, the Florida proposal allows for exceptions for rape, incest or medical emergencies that threaten the mother's life.
In Florida, the battle over abortion rights is influencing state politics.
Floridians have a gubernatorial election in November 2022. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has said he's running for reelection, regularly touts his antiabortion credentials but has evaded the question of whether he specifically supports legislation like the one Barnaby is proposing.
Earlier this month, before the bill was introduced, a spokesperson for his office told BuzzFeed News, "Gov. DeSantis doesn't want to turn private citizens against each other."
Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson, a Republican, also expressed misgivings about the provision of HB 167 that enables citizens to sue those who provide or enable abortions, local media reported.
But he, like other Republican leaders in the state, said he would like to see a bill limiting abortion passed in Florida, following developments in Texas.
"The Texas law represents a new approach and the fact that the Supreme Court didn't block it from taking effect is encouraging," Simpson said in a statement reported by the Sun Sentinel. "As an adoptive child myself, it's important to me that we do everything we can to promote adoption and prevent abortion; therefore, I think it's worthwhile to take a look at the Texas law and see if there is more we can do here in Florida."
Meanwhile, state Rep. Charlie Crist, a Democrat seeking to replace DeSantis in 2022, said in a tweet that the bill is "a direct attack on a woman's right to choose," and added, "we're going to have to fight tooth and nail to protect reproductive freedom."
One of his competitors for the Democratic nomination, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, tweeted that if she were elected governor, she would "fight like hell and veto any abortion bill that gets put on my desk."
Information for this article was contributed by Robert Barnes, Mary Ziegler and Adela Suliman of The Washington Post.