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full screen The abortion issue stirs up strong emotions in the United States. The photo shows an anti-abortion demonstration outside the Supreme Court in Washington DC in March. Archive image. Photo: Jose Luis Magana/AP/TT
Florida’s new strict abortion law has now gone into effect, which means that most abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy are prohibited.
The amendment to the law, which applies from the first of May, only allows exceptions when the woman’s life is in danger or when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. It replaces a previous law that allowed abortions up to the 15th week of pregnancy.
The new law is praised in conservative circles but has been called “a nightmare” by US Democratic President Joe Biden, according to media reports. In connection with the presidential election this fall, Florida residents will vote on whether the right to abortion should be written into the state’s constitution.
Critics of the new law point out that many women do not even know they are six weeks pregnant. Anyone who wants to have an abortion may then be forced to make a long and costly journey, as a large number of states in the American south have introduced similar laws or total bans on the procedure.