Rick Scott backs 15-week abortion ban with exceptions, distancing from law Gov. DeSantis signed

Image via AP.

U.S. Sen. Rick Scott’s position on abortion continues to get scrutiny as he runs for a second term, with the former Governor distancing himself on the record from a law Gov. Ron DeSantis signed in 2023.

And comments he made to The Hill likely won’t take the heat off the Republican Senator from Democrats who want to remove him from office.

“If I was writing a bill, I think 15 weeks is where the state is,” Scott said in an interview that ran on Monday.

He added that “15 weeks with the limitations (for rape, incest, and maternal health) is where the state’s at,” contending it’s “important we do what there’s consensus” for.

Scott has voiced qualms about the Heartbeat Protection Act before.

Regarding the abortion ban after the sixth week of gestation that takes effect in Florida next month, Scott said in 2023 he would have signed the bill, even though he offered a more nuanced take in an interview before the endorsement of one of the harshest abortion laws in the country.

“Probably most people are about 15 weeks with all the exceptions. And they ought to have exceptions for rape and incest and the life of the mother. And so I think that’s where the population is. And I think that’s our state. You know, our state legislation ought to represent that.”

Scott, running for his second term in the U.S. Senate, has found the abortion issue to be an inconvenient running mate on the November ballot thus far, even after saying, per The Washington Post, that he would “vote against a November ballot initiative in Florida that would overturn the state’s new ban.”

That vote would be to maintain a law more restrictive than that he pitches here.

As the Tampa Bay Times reported, he advocated for “reasonable limitations,” “reasonable restrictions” and the need for “a conversation about how do we work to make sure this is the state where we respect women and also we take care of our babies.”

Florida has a ban on the procedure after the 15th week of gestation for a couple more weeks until the six-week ban takes effect, but that language contemplates no exceptions, meaning it’s more restrictive still than what Scott says he wants.

Regardless of shifts in Scott’s rhetoric, a potential opponent says not to believe it.

“Rick Scott knows EXACTLY what’s at stake this election and what’s going to happen when the nearly 70% of Floridians who support protecting abortion access show up to hold him accountable for backing Florida’s near-total abortion ban – that’s why he’s resorted to blatantly lying. But no amount of lies will make Florida voters forget that Scott proudly said he would have signed this abortion ban himself and has promised to keep it in place come November,” asserted the Debbie Mucarsel-Powell campaign.