Florida was once seen as the abortion haven of the deep south—performing over 3,000 procedures after 15 weeks gestation every year. However, now that Roe is overturned, abortion has been limited at 15 weeks thanks to a law passed in 2022. Florida has over 30 abortion businesses, mostly in the southern half of the state, compared to the 150 pregnancy resource centers serving women across the state. 

In the Florida legislature, both chambers enjoy a majority of pro-life lawmakers. The legislature is part-time and traditionally has only heard one or two pro-life bills each session. 

Florida employs a Missouri-style Judicial Nominating Commission system, whereby the governor selects candidates submitted by the commission. Although Florida has a state supreme court decision that creates a “right to abortion,” that case may be revisited in 2022 now that the 15-week law is challenged. A Florida judge recently lifted an injunction on the state’s 24-hour reflection law, and the state supreme court has shifted toward the pro-life position due to pro-life Governor Ron DeSantis naming several state justices. 

Governor Ron DeSantis is pro-life. He signed laws limiting abortion to 15 weeks gestation and preventing a minor from obtaining an abortion without her parents’ consent. Unfortunately, the state Agency for Healthcare Administration (ACHA) has not adequately penalized egregious violators of state law and has been hesitant to revoke any abortion facility’s license, despite serious violations. For example, a Pensacola abortion facility merely received a small fine despite performing 100 abortions without a license or medical director. 

After the 2022 Midterm Elections, Governor Ron DeSantis will serve another term. Both chambers remain majority pro-life.

2024 Florida Ballot Initiative

This November, Floridians will be asked to vote on a ballot initiative entitled, “Right to Abortion Initiative” (“RTA”). The RTA initiative would amend Florida’s constitution to state, “[e]xcept as provided in Article X, Section 22, no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.” Both the ballot summary and the amendment use deceptive language that downplays the ramifications of the radical amendment. For more, read AUL’s full legal analysis of Florida’s 2024 ballot initiative.

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Florida Abortion Quick Facts

  • Abortion is legal in Florida for up to 15 weeks gestation.
  • Florida has a law banning abortion after 15 weeks except in cases of life or health endangerment.
  • Chemical abortion pills could be more tightly regulated in Florida.

Florida’s Pro-Life Laws Across the Spectrum

Americans United for Life advances the human right to life across the spectrum of issues confronting the dignity of the human person. AUL’s comprehensive analysis of Florida’s state laws on human life span the full spectrum of life issues from abortion, to health and safety protections, to patient informed consent, to conscience rights and bioethics.

Florida’s Pro-Life Laws Key

  • Yes, Florida has this law and it is enforceable
  • Florida has this law in place, but it is currently not in effect due to litigation
  • No, Florida has no such law in place
  • Not Applicable
  • To Be Determined

State Constitutional Amendments and Statutes

Americans United for Life covers broad pro-life laws in this section. This includes both state constitutional amendments and state statutes designed to protect preborn human life. FOCA/RHA (or Freedom of Choice Acts/Reproductive Health Acts) are laws designed to enshrine and expand abortion and abortion businesses.

  • Constitutional amendment stating no right to abortion
  • Constitutional amendment preventing state funding of abortion
  • Conditional law prohibiting abortion when Roe is overturned
  • Pre-Roe abortion ban that will take effect when Roe is overturned
  • FOCA/RHA, codifying an abortion right in state law

Mother-Child Gestational and Procedural Protections

States can protect both mother and child by limiting abortion by gestational age or prohibiting gruesome abortion methods. This category also includes life-saving care requirements for a child born-alive after an abortion, and health and safety requirements for a woman undergoing a chemical abortion.

 

  • Gestational protections by age/week for preborn children
  • Basic medical care for infant children born alive during attempted abortions
  • Partial-birth (D&X) abortion ban
  • Dismemberment (D&E) abortion ban
  • Telemedicine abortion ban
  • Follow up scheduled with patient for abortion pills complications

Prenatal Non-Discrimination (PRENDA) Protections

Increasingly states are enacting laws to protect unborn babies from eugenic abortions based on gender, disability, or race. Some states provide life-affirming resources for families who receive a diagnosis of a possible genetic anomaly like Down syndrome so they know that they’ll be supported.

 

  • Protection against discrimination based on gender
  • Protection against discrimination due to prenatal diagnosis
  • Protection against discrimination based on race
  • State-provided life-affirming resources for parents and families

Informed Consent Laws

Many states require a woman to give informed consent to an abortion, which holds abortion to a similar standard as other medical procedures. These protections include the disclosure of an abortion procedure’s nature and risks, the performance of an ultrasound to date the pregnancy and allow a woman to meet her unborn child if she chooses, and the time for a woman to reflect on this grave decision.

 

  • Basic informed consent for mothers concerning abortion
  • Patient signature or written confirmation of informed consent from provider
  • Patient is provided state-sponsored informed consent website/information
  • Reflection period (48 hours) protecting a mother’s discernment and choice
  • An ultrasound is required to give a mother the opportunity to meet their child
  • Information on risks of abortion procedure
  • Information on the possibility of abortion pill reversal care

Abortion Reporting in Public Health Data

Reporting requirements ensure the government and public have a comprehensive view of abortion in the state when making important public policy decisions. This data includes basic information on instances of abortion, the gestational age of the aborted unborn child, demographics, procedure type, and complications.

 

  • Basic reporting on instances of abortion
  • Abortion reporting includes gestational age data
  • Abortion reporting includes demographic information
  • Abortion reporting includes procedure type
  • Complication reporting
  • Anonymized/aggregate data is made available to the public
  • Anonymized/aggregate data is submitted to the CDC

Parental Rights and Protection of Minors

States protect a minor considering abortion by involving her parents in her life-changing decision, but also provide guidelines for judicial bypass to parental involvement when it is necessary. Other laws included in this section are safe haven laws which create a safe pathway to give up an infant and prevent child abandonment, and the dissemination of information on perinatal hospice to parents of unborn children with fetal anomalies.

 

  • Parental consent before a minor obtains an abortion
  • Parental notice of a minor obtaining an abortion
  • Judicial bypass limits
  • Mandatory reporting of suspected abuse
  • Safe haven protections (72 hours)
  • Perinatal hospice resources

Basic Health and Safety Standards

These laws bring abortion businesses up to the health and safety standards of medical facilities. States may limit both chemical and surgical abortion procedures to physicians, require the physician be licensed by the state, and require emergency transfer agreements or admitting privileges for the physician or the facility to protect a patient if she suffers post-abortion complications.

 

  • Established health and safety standards for abortion businesses
  • Basic regulatory inspections for abortion businesses
  • Only physicians can perform abortions (all methods)
  • Physicians required to be licensed in the state
  • Emergency transfer/admitting privilege patient protections
  • Physician’s license/credentials are disclosed to patients

Legal Recognition of Human Dignity for Preborn Persons

This section covers the ways states recognize the human dignity of unborn children. States increasingly require dignified disposition of fetal remains, whether from abortion or miscarriage. The law may provide for the issuance of a fetal death or stillbirth certificate. States may also protect the dignity of unborn children by prohibiting fetal experimentation and banning the sale or transfer of human fetal remains.

 

  • Dignified disposition of fetal remains required
  • Parents may request dignified disposition
  • Human fetal death or stillbirth certificate issued to recognize the life of human persons (20 weeks)
  • Sale or transfer of human fetal remains prohibited
  • Fetal experimentation banned

Fetal Homicide and Wrongful Death/Life

Fetal homicide laws establish criminal penalties for the death of an unborn child. Wrongful death suits provide a civil cause of action for the death of an unborn child. A prohibition on wrongful life/birth suits affirms that no life is “unwanted.”

 

  • Fetal homicide criminalization
  • Fetal homicide law in place from the moment of conception
  • Wrongful death suits
  • Prohibition on wrongful life/birth suits

Assisted Suicide and Patient Care

These laws protect end-of-life patients from physician-assisted suicide, a practice that exploits vulnerable patients, has little government oversight, and undermines modern medicine. The Life-Sustaining Care Act ensures healthcare professionals may not override a minor patient or her surrogate’s decision to obtain or continue life-sustaining care. States with patient nondiscrimination acts protect patients from age or disability discrimination.

 

  • Assisted suicide prohibition
  • Life-sustaining care act
  • Patient non-discrimination on the basis of age or disability

Bioethics, Human Cloning, and Embryo Research

As medical technology evolves, states increasingly enact pro-life bioethics policies to reaffirm human dignity and ban cloning. These laws also require ethical medical practices, ban destructive embryo research, and regulate assisted reproductive technology.

 

  • Bans human cloning
  • Bans taxpayer funding for human cloning
  • Bans destructive embryo research
  • Encourages ethical alternatives to embryo research
  • Requires informed consent for assisted reproductive technologies
  • Regulates egg harvesting

Healthcare Freedom of Conscience

These laws protect the freedom of conscience of healthcare professionals, institutions, and pharmacists against forced participation in assisted suicide and abortion. States also safeguard the conscience rights of healthcare professionals and institutions against unethical medical research.

 

  • Individuals protected against abortion participation
  • Public/Private institutions protected against abortion participation
  • Pharmacists protected against abortion participation
  • Individuals protected against participation in unethical research
  • Private/public institutions protected against participation in unethical research
  • Individuals protected against participation in assisted suicide
  • Private/public institutions protected against participation in assisted suicide
  • Pharmacists protected against participation in assisted suicide

Florida Pro-Life Legislation Tracker

Florida Abortion Inspection Initiative

The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), through the Division of Health Quality Assurance, posts abortion business inspection reports online. 12 Inspections of Florida’s abortion facilities found multiple incidents involving failures to report patient injuries during abortions, including a patient hospitalized due to bowel perforation, and a second trimester abortion that resulted in a perforated uterus. Inspectors also found hundreds of instances of expired medications and medical supplies and incomplete or improperly authenticated medical records, including physicians failing to sign off on medications and patient discharge orders. Multiple facilities were cited for having staff that lacked basic background information and training. Unsanitary conditions were noted throughout many abortion businesses. One abortion business was cited for not have emergency equipment, including a defibrillator or a cardiac monitor. Others were cited for failing to perform preventive maintenance calibration on equipment such as ultrasound machines, suction units, and sterilization machines. Another abortion business had no licensed practitioners listed on its personnel list and no nurses employed for patient recovery. In Pensacola, American Family Planning performed nearly a hundred abortions without a license (failed to renew license), and the facility was found to not have a Medical Director. Another abortion business had no licensed practitioners listed on its personnel list and no nurses employed for patient recovery.

The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), through the Division of Health Quality Assurance, posts abortion clinic inspection reports online. Facility/Provider Locator. Florida Agency for Health Care Administration.

NUMBER OF REPORTS: 127
DATE RANGE: 2009–2019