Florida Democrats filed a bill Tuesday aimed at repealing the state's controversial six-week abortion ban and restoring abortion policies to their pre-2022 status before the Supreme Court squashed federal protections.
The measure was introduced in direct response to a majority of Floridians voting in November to reject the state's six-week ban, House Bill 741 sponsor Rep. Fentrice Driskell told reporters on a press call Wednesday morning. That, she says, should be enough to "start a conversation" on rolling back the ban.
"The overwhelming majority of voters, 57%, were in favor of ending government interference with abortions," Driskell said, noting that a wide breadth of Republicans voted for a referendum, called Amendment 4, that would have enshrined abortion access in the state constitution.
"If Amendment 4 had been a candidate, it would have been elected to office convincingly," added Driskell, the House Minority Leader.
HB 741 would return Florida abortion policy to a "viability ban"—the position held before the Supreme Court's 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson, which overturned federal abortion protections. The measure would prohibit abortions after a fetus is deemed viable, or "sustainable," outside of the womb. It includes exceptions to save the life of the mother or in cases of a fatal fetal abnormality.
The bill's language echoes that of Amendment 4, a citizen-led referendum that would have legalized abortion rights until viability in the state constitution. Drafted in response to Gov. Ron DeSantis' six-week ban, which took effect in May, the measure garnered a slew of litigation, over a million signatures, and ultimately 57% of Floridian approval.
But it wasn't enough.
In Florida, a proposed constitutional amendment needs at least 60% voter approval. Though Amendment 4 became the first voted-on amendment to gather over six million "yes" votes and still fail, Democrats are hopeful that its massive backing could be enough to sway Floridians on their new bill.
"The 57% of voters that said 'yes' to Amendment 4 are individuals who voted in very diverse ways, including Trump voters," said Rep. Anna Eskamani, a former senior director at Planned Parenthood. "This is an issue that has always transcended party lines, despite the extreme attitude of the Legislature."
How Did Florida Reach This Point? A Timeline
In the months leading up to his presidential bid, Gov. DeSantis separated himself from Donald Trump by hitting on the one issue Trump appeared reticent on: abortion. So in 2023, the Republican-dominated legislature passed the stringent six-week ban requiring two physicians to approve the procedure.
The law was triggered into effect on May 1, 2024, once the Florida Supreme Court decided that the 15-week ban in place at the time was legal.
In response, the grassroots group Floridians Protecting Freedom gathered over a million petition signatures—many of which the DeSantis administration has claimed to be falsified—to put Amendment 4 on the ballot in hopes of reversing the ban. But after millions of public funds were spent on legal fees, press conferences, and public service announcements, Amendment 4 failed just three percentage points short.
And the results are showing.
Per new data released by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, over 20,000 fewer abortions were performed in 2024 compared to the previous year—a 28% decline.
Florida Democrats, gearing up for the 2025 session in March, have filed a slew of legislation targeting abortion laws and the DeSantis administration's campaign against the amendment. This includes a bill expanding exceptions to the six-week ban, a ban on taxpayer-funded political ads, and lowering the amendment approval threshold to 50%.
The session begins March 4.
