Florida abortion ban starts in heat of US election battle

Florida is bracing for one of the strictest abortion bans in the United States to take effect today.

The ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy has turned Republican-led Florida into a crucial battleground for a divisive topic that President Joe Biden and his Democratic Party hope to capitalize on in November.

Florida is one of several states that have introduced bans since a conservative US Supreme Court — featuring three justices appointed by Trump while he was president — revoked the nationwide right to abortion in 2022.

Nine states in the South have banned abortion, with Florida joining Georgia and South Carolina with a six-week ban. The Florida ban is the brainchild of Republican governor and former presidential contender Ron DeSantis, who signed into law in April 2023 a bill to lower the limit from 15 weeks to six weeks.