Florida state House Republicans are not all standing in solidarity over the proposed six-week abortion ban bill before them, stating the residents of their heavily blue districts are not in favor of tighter restrictions on abortion access.
The Florida House is set to vote Thursday on whether to move the ban from the current 15-week ban to six weeks. There will be exceptions for rape, incest, and human trafficking, but only up to 15 weeks in pregnancy, should it pass. But at least two House Republicans are joining two Senate GOP members who say the wishes of their districts prevent them from siding with the rest of the Republican Party and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL).
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Republican state Sen. Alexis Calatayud told Politico that the "only thing red in our district is our sunburns," referring to her Miami-area district. She voted against the bill when the Senate passed the measure on April 3.
Calatayud said her district, which includes thousands of Democratic constituents, does not support as restrictive a law as the six-week ban. She said that, despite being a Republican, she is still beholden to carry out the will of her voters.
Republican state Rep. Mike Caruso, who represents Delray Beach, said he plans to vote "no" on the six-week ban. GOP state Rep. Traci Koster of Tampa rejected the bill during a March committee vote, so it is likely she will vote "no" again on Thursday.
“I don’t think the bill takes into consideration certain religious rights,” Caruso said on Wednesday. “And based on that and some other things, I’m going to be down on the bill.”
"I do not like this bill," Caruso added.
The bill would prohibit telehealth for abortion care, which made up 9% of abortions across the six months following the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in June 2022 and allocates $25 million annually for crisis pregnancy centers that offer counseling for mothers in the hopes of pushing them toward parenting or adoption rather than abortion.
Florida House Democrats filed more than 50 amendments to the bill, but House Speaker Paul Renner said none will be added to the bill in order to push it forward to DeSantis's desk.
The bill will allow abortions to save a mother's life if two physicians can sign off in writing saying it is medically necessary and the woman will die if she continues the pregnancy.
To ease Democrats' criticism of the measure, Republican State Rep. Jenna Persons-Mullicka told the House on Thursday that "no woman needs to wait until the brink of death" to have an abortion.
"I want to be clear for the record, in no way or fashion does this bill or current law interfere with the ability from a pregnant woman from obtaining an abortion when it's necessary to save a woman's life or advert a serious risk," Persons-Mullicka said.
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Republicans not voting for the bill are not likely to face backlash for separating from their party. With the vast majority of the 84 House Republicans likely to vote yes on the bill, Renner said he understands the commitment of GOP members to their districts.
“We have members who will likely not be able to support the bill because they are a good representative of their district. And that’s not where their district is.” Renner said. “We respect those differences in our caucus.”