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Brevard Republicans back Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade

Legislators react to landmark ruling at Melbourne campaign event

MELBOURNE, Fla. – Brevard County Republican legislators are sharing a different opinion on the Roe v. Wade decision than Central Florida Democrats.

At a campaign event Saturday at the Melbourne Auditorium, Sen. Debbie Mayfield, R-Melbourne, and Rep. Thad Altman, R-Indian Harbour Beach, expressed their support for the justices in the high court’s majority.

Mayfield and Altman said overturning Roe v. Wade was the right decision based off of the Constitution.

Now on July 1, Florida’s new law restricting abortions from 24 weeks pregnant to 15 weeks will go into affect as the Supreme Court’s decision opens the door for even more debate.

Governor Ron DeSantis wrote after the ruling that Florida, “will work to expand pro-life protections.”

Since Friday, at least seven states have made abortion illegal.

“We may need to revisit that as we go forward now knowing what the Supreme Court’s decision on Roe v. Wade is,” Mayfield said.

Mayfield and Altman both backed the state’s 15-week abortion ban, but Mayfield said she doesn’t expect a special session since lawmakers are now in election season.

Altman said lawmakers need to deliberate regarding what comes next.

“We need to look at options to see if there’s any improvements that we could make,” the state representative said.

Altman said he hasn’t heard if a special session will happen, either.

News 6 political expert Jim Clark said that any new ban will likely be challenged in court.

“Florida has a constitutional amendment dealing with women’s rights and a number of people have thought that that amendment protects the right to an abortion,” the UCF history professor said.


About the Author
James Sparvero headshot

James joined News 6 in March 2016 as the Brevard County Reporter. His arrival was the realization of a three-year effort to return to the state where his career began. James is from Pittsburgh, PA and graduated from Penn State in 2009 with a degree in Broadcast Journalism.

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