Abortion Rights

An emoji — sporting a smile and wearing dark sunglasses — sparked a wave of reactions among Democratic lawmakers.

DeSantis and 10 other Republican governors joined a friend-of-the court brief filed by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster.

“This is not about disabilities, this is not about people with disabilities or fetuses with disabilities,” said Rep. Kelly Skidmore, D-Boca Raton.

Abortion-rights supporters quickly criticized the proposal.

In Florida, more than 89 percent of the abortions in 2018 were performed at nine weeks gestation or less.

The bill, which passed during the legislative session that ended in March, will take effect Wednesday.

Thursday’s 75-43 vote in the House was a victory for DeSantis.

“I don’t believe that the state of Florida should be forcing children to have children,” Sen. Lauren Book, D-Plantation, said.

“If a parent won’t consent and a minor isn’t able to go to court or isn’t able to convince a judge, under the bill the child would be forced to have a child.”

Before taking office in 2018, Eskamani was a senior director at Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida.