Heartbeat Protection Act
Florida Legislature
  • An act relating to pregnancy and parenting support; creating s. 286.31, F.S.; defining the terms “educational institution” and “governmental entity”; prohibiting any person, governmental entity, or educational institution from expending state funds for a specified purpose; providing exceptions; amending s. 381.96, F.S.; revising the definitions of the terms “eligible client” and “pregnancy and parenting support services”; requiring the Department of Health to contract for the management and delivery of parenting support services, in addition to pregnancy support services; revising the contract requirements to conform to changes made by the act; requiring the department to report specified information to the Governor and the Legislature by a specified date each year; amending s. 390.0111, F.S.; prohibiting physicians from knowingly performing or inducing a termination of pregnancy after the gestational age of the fetus is determined to be more than 6 weeks, rather than 15 weeks, with exceptions; providing an exception if the woman obtaining the abortion is doing so because she is a victim of rape or incest, subject to certain conditions; requiring physicians to report incidents of rape or incest of minors to the central abuse hotline; prohibiting any person other than a physician from inducing a termination of pregnancy; prohibiting physicians from using telehealth to perform abortions; requiring that medications intended for use in a medical abortion be dispensed in person by a physician; prohibiting the dispensing of such medication through the United States Postal Service or any other courier or shipping service; conforming provisions to changes made by the act; repealing s. 390.01112, F.S., relating to termination of pregnancies during viability; amending s. 390.012, F.S.; revising rules the Agency for Health Care Administration may develop and enforce to regulate abortion clinics; amending s. 456.47, F.S.; prohibiting telehealth providers from using telehealth to provide abortions; providing appropriations; providing effective dates.
CitationChapter n. 2023-21
Enacted byFlorida Senate
Enacted byFlorida House of Representatives
Signed byGovernor Ron DeSantis
SignedApril 13, 2023
Legislative history
First chamber: Florida Senate
Bill citationSenate Bill 300
Introduced byErin Grall
PassedApril 3, 2023
Voting summary
  • 26 Members voted for
  • 13 Members voted against
Second chamber: Florida House of Representatives
PassedApril 13, 2023
Voting summary
  • 70 Members voted for
  • 40 Members voted against

The Heartbeat Protection Act (SB 300) is a Florida state law passed in 2023 that makes abortion after 6 weeks illegal except in the event of rape, incest, human trafficking, a fatal fetal abnormality diagnosis, or when the pregnant woman's life is in danger. It further prevents state funds from being used to finance agencies which provide abortion or to help a pregnant woman travel to another state to receive an abortion, and outlaws the delivery of abortion pills through the mail.

The bill passed the Florida Legislature on April 13, 2023. Governor Ron DeSantis signed it into law on the same day in a meeting behind closed-doors with a few selected guests.[1][2][3]

It will come into force only if the Florida Supreme Court overturns previous rulings which found abortion to be a protected right under the State Constitution.

Legislative history

House of Representatives Vote
  Republican YEA (70)
  Republican NAY (7)
  Democratic NAY (33)
  No Vote (9)
Senate Vote
  Republican YEA (26)
  Republican NAY (2)
  Democratic NAY (11)
  No Vote (1)

References

  1. ↑ "Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signs six-week abortion ban into law". April 13, 2023 – via www.bbc.com.
  2. ↑ Greenwood, Max (April 15, 2023). "DeSantis faces political quagmire on abortion".
  3. ↑ "Florida Governor Desantis signs 6-week abortion ban law". April 14, 2023 – via www.reuters.com.
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