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Orlando Rep. Eskamani files legislation to protect people who self-induce abortions

Currently under Florida law, anyone who performs or participates in the termination of a pregnancy after 15 weeks, can be charged with a third degree felony.
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The bill would protect women who end their own pregnancies at home, through methods including the use of abortion pills.

Orlando Democratic Rep. Anna Eskamani has filed legislation that would forbid Florida from criminalizing people who end their own pregnancy through self-managed abortion.

Currently under Florida law, anyone who performs or participates in the termination of a pregnancy after 15 weeks, can be charged with a third degree felony.

The bill would protect women who end their own pregnancies at home, through methods including the use of abortion pills.

The legislation was co-sponsored by Democratic Senator Lauren Book.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida Republicans have said they don’t support criminalizing women who get abortions. A six-week ban on abortion has been signed into law, but it’s not yet effective in the state.

An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll conducted in July found two-thirds of Americans think abortion should be legal in most cases. 1 in 10 say it should always be illegal.

Read Florida's abortion laws here.

Danielle Prieur covers education in Central Florida.
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