Rick Scott says 15-week state abortion ban reflects consensus in Florida

Florida GOP Sen. Rick Scott said he would support a 15-week ban on abortion in his home state over a six-week ban, because it reflect feelings on the ground in Florida.

Scott, who is running for reelection this year, said the 15-week ban would have to include exceptions for rape, incest, and to protect the life of the mother. 

“[I]n Florida there’s way more consensus around 15-weeks with exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother,” Scott told the Hill on Monday. “So if I was writing a bill, I’d think that 15-weeks with the limitations is where the state’s at. I think it’s important we do what there’s consensus [for].”

The Florida Supreme Court recently upheld a 2022 state law that bans abortion in the state altogether after 15 weeks, and which also allows a six-week ban on abortion to go into effect in May. Under that law, abortion is banned after six weeks unless it is to save the life of the mother, or in the cases of rape and incest. In these cases abortion is allowed until week 15. 

The six-week part of the state law had been paused while abortion proponents and opponents argued over the ban's constitutionality.

Scott claimed he “signed every pro-life bill that came in front of me,” when he was the governor from 2011 to 2019. Scott also claimed he was not backing away from his pro-life stance, despite his support of a later abortion law.

“I’ve been pro-life, and I think we need to continue the importance of being pro-life,” Scott said. “I think the other thing is we ought to be very clear that Democrats are barbaric. They’ve already voted to allow abortion up until the moment of birth.”

The remarks also come after Scott claimed in a post to X last year that he would have approved the state’s six-week abortion ban, and sign it into law, if he was still governor.