Florida will hash out its own abortion restriction bill after the Texas heartbeat bill was not blocked by the Supreme Court, but Gov. Ron DeSantis is not necessarily looking to follow suit of the Lonestar State by incentivizing abortion lawsuits.
DeSantis press secretary Christina Pushaw emphasized that 'nothing is off the table' in terms of what the 'best option might be in terms of legislation to protect life,' but the governor does not seem keen on following Texas' footsteps in enforcement.
'The type of enforcement action is being considered carefully to avoid any unintended consequences,' Pushaw told DailyMail.com. 'It is the case that Governor DeSantis does not want to turn citizens against each other, generally speaking.'
Florida is expected to take up new abortion legislation in the next legislative session, early next year.
The Texas law, championed by Gov. Greg Abbott, in addition to banning abortions after six weeks with no exceptions for rape or incest, allows any private citizen to sue Texas abortion providers who violate the law, as well as anyone who 'aids or abets' a woman getting the procedure.
DeSantis and Abbott are two of the nation's most recognizable GOP governors and both are thought to be considering higher office
On Monday protestors gathered in front of Kavanaugh's home in protest of his recent decision to reject a challenge to Texas' new abortion law
Protestors gathered outside of Justice Kavanaugh's home with signs to protest his recent rejection of a challenge to the Texas abortion law
The statute, which survived a Supreme Court challenge, sets minimum damages of $10,000 per banned abortion, to be paid out to the first person to prevail in a suit over the procedure.
Abortion patients themselves cannot be sued, but the 'aiding and abetting' clause is broad, and might even apply to a cab driver who knowingly takes a woman to get a banned abortion.
'Governor DeSantis has always been pro-life. Advances in science, technology, and medicine since Roe v. Wade was decided, have only bolstered the pro-life position,' Pushaw continued.
'With that said, the governor has not indicated that the same legislation recently enacted in Texas will be on the table in Florida. At the same time, nothing is off the table. All the Governor has said is that he's looking into what the best option might be in terms of legislation to protect life.'
DeSantis and Abbott are two of the nation's most recognizable GOP governors and both are thought to be considering higher office.
Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson said the Supreme Court's refusal to block the Texas law 'sent a signal' to states looking to restrict abortion, and promised to introduce a similar measure in the next legislative session.
But he said he did not favor Texas' financial incentive scheme and noted that past abortion laws had made exceptions for rape and incest.
'Certainly that's not something I would support, neighbor telling on neighbor or calling in, things of that nature,' Simpson said. 'We have privacy in this state for a reason.'
The Texas abortion bill has energized Democrats across the country who position themselves as the last stalwart against abortion bans.
Newsom sought to capitalize off the Texas law as he campaigned ahead of the recall election, decrying 'what's happening to those women in Texas.'
'Larry Elder's running away with it guys,' Newsom said, arguing that his most formidable opponent was celebrating the abortion restriction.
DeSantis in a press conference in West Palm Beach last week told reporters the Texas law is 'interesting,' but said 'I haven't really been able to look at enough about it.'
'They've basically done this through private right of action. So, it's a little bit different than how a lot of these debates have gone,' he said.
'I'm gonna look more significantly at it, but I would also say, I mean, what the court basically did is - I don't think they really even did a substantive ruling on it. They basically said it's not right yet for a decision, but if it ends up going, then you could consider it at that time. So, I wouldn't read too much into it.'
The Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision earlier this month denied an emergency request to block the bill from taking effect, but did not rule on the constitutionality of it.
'In reaching this conclusion, we stress that we do not purport to resolve definitively any jurisdictional or substantive claim in the applicants' lawsuit. In particular, this order is not based on any conclusion about the constitutionality of Texas's law, and in no way limits other procedurally proper challenges to the Texas law, including in Texas state courts,' the court said in the unsigned order.
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