South Florida OB/GYN weighs in on six week abortion ban proposal
MIAMI - Florida's current 15-week abortion ban could soon have an even smaller window.
Republican lawmakers are proposing a six-week abortion ban with few exceptions. If the bill is passed, there would be exceptions if the life of the mother is at risk, or if the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest up until 15 weeks. In those cases of rape and incest, the woman would have to provide evidence like medical records or a police report.
Governor Ron DeSantis previously said he welcomes pro-life legislation, while abortion rights advocates are suing the state over the current 15-week ban.
Abortion rights advocates also argue that most women don't know that they're pregnant until they're at least six weeks pregnant.
Dr. Shelly Tien, who is an OB/GYN, said the tighter restrictions could create problems.
"Things can happen in the entire length of gestation that can make the situation very, very complicated for patients and their families and sometimes the safest thing in part of the discussion with these patients is to end the pregnancy. Having a ban in place that doesn't allow that, that restricts that, makes things very difficult for patients and very dangerous for patients," she said.
If the six-week abortion ban is passed, Florida would be closely aligned with states like Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana which have some of the strictest abortion laws in the country.
