Two weeks ago, the Florida House approved an identical measure.
The bill destined for the governor's desk has left victims of rape and incest out in the cold.
Even if they just needed more, there will be no exemptions for rape or incest.
Florida's GOP-controlled Legislature passed the law as states across the country, including Arizona and West Virginia, are also considering proposals that restrict a woman's access to abortion at 15 weeks. The Idaho Senate passed an abortion ban similar to the one in Texas.
The Senate President said before the chamber began to debate the bill that he thought the Supreme Court would let us go for 15 weeks.
Mississippi has a 15-week abortion ban. GOP lawmakers early in the process considered putting forward a proposal similar to Texas' contentious law that also allows anyone to sue abortion providers but ultimately settled on a 15-week ban.
Texas and Mississippi have abortion laws that are being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court. In December, the high court justices indicated a willingness to uphold Mississippi's abortion law, signaling that abortion protections could be scaled back. The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the Mississippi case in the summer, just months ahead of the elections.
The debate leading up to Thursday's vote touched on some of the core arguments about abortion, such as when a fetus becomes a life. The bill was sponsored by Sen. Stargel.
Stargel said that he never dreamed he would be standing here today and being able to save the life of babies.
Book, who has two young children, was called out by Stargel. Book was drugged and gang raped as a teenager and begged the Republicans to add the exemptions.
Stargel said that people who have children try to convince them.
The ban is the most restrictive approved by the Legislature, and previous attempts to pass all-out bans failed, according to State Rep. Anna Eskamani.
Eskamani said in a text before the vote.
The death of a child is an emotional issue, and that's why Danny Burgess told his colleagues on Thursday that abortion is an emotional issue.
We are talking about ending the life of a child.
Officials from across the state testified against the bill. They believed the measure would be declared unconstitutional by the state Supreme Court because of a privacy clause in the state Constitution.
Senate Democrats failed to convince Republicans to add exemptions for rape, incest and human trafficking victims. The measure provides exceptions for women if they are in danger of dying or if the fetus has fatal defects.
The vote may seem like a dark day for supporters of abortion rights, but the fight was not over.
The women of Florida are not done with this fight.
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