Florida Governor Ron DeSantis confirmed today that he will sign a heartbeat bill banning abortions on babies with beating hearts. This is the second time in recent weeks that DeSantis has promised he would sign the 6-week abortion ban as soon as the legislature passes it.
“We’re for pro-life. I urge the legislature to work, produce good stuff, and we will sign,” DeSantis said during a news conference today, adding that he’s “willing to sign great life legislation.”
“That’s what I’ve always wanted to do,” DeSantis added.
In December, DeSantis said that he is “ready to sign” a heartbeat bill to protect babies from abortions. But first, the Florida legislature needs to pass such an abortion ban and get it to his desk and it doesn’t begin its next session until March.
During a press conference in Fort Lauderdale last month, a reporter asked DeSantis if he would “take the lead” on the heartbeat bill, which would ban abortions starting at 6 weeks when an unborn baby’s heartbeat is detectable on a sonogram.
“I’m willing to sign great life legislation. That’s what I’ve always said I would do,” DeSantis said in response.
DeSantis also defended the right to life of unborn children saying that with abortion “another life is at stake.”
“At the end of the day, government was instituted for certain reasons. To protect life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” DeSantis said.
Such an abortion ban would improve upon the 15-week ban DeSantis already signed this year that is protecting babies from abortions at that point.
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“We’re here today to protect life,” Governor DeSantis said at a large ceremony to sign the 15-week ban last year. “We’re here today to defend those who can’t defend themselves.”
The governor said the bill “protects the rights of unborn children starting at 15 weeks. This is a time where these babies have beating hearts. They can move, they can taste, they can see, they can feel pain, they can suck their thumb, and they have brain waves.”
“Life is a sacred gift worthy of our protection, and I am proud to sign this great piece of legislation which represents the most significant protections for life in the state’s modern history,” he said.
During the gubernatorial campaign, DeSantis condemned abortion.
When asked about abortion, the Republican governor recalled the story of a poor Jamaican woman who nearly went through with an abortion 40 years ago. DeSantis said the woman was urged to have an abortion and even went to her appointment, but she chose life for her unborn daughter instead, according to an RNC Research video from the debate.
“I think about that because a few months ago I appointed her daughter to be the first Jamaican-American justice in the history of the Florida Supreme Court,” DeSantis said. “I just think we’re better when everybody counts. I understand not everyone is going to be born in perfect circumstances, but I would like to see everybody have a shot.”
The governor said he is proud of the pro-life law that he signed in April to ban abortions after 15 weeks. Pro-life leaders estimate the law will save thousands of babies’ lives every year.
