A Republican-sponsored bill prohibiting abortion in Florida after 15 weeks of pregnancy, with a few exceptions, has passed the state House and is in the Senate after the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops issued an "Action Alert" for its passage.

The Conference has issued a follow-up call to urge passage in the Senate. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has already said he will sign the bill if it arrives on his desk.

House Bill 5, also called the "Reducing Fetal and Infant Mortality" bill, passed the state House Thursday on a mostly party-line 78-39 vote. The Miami Herald reported shortly after House passage that the Senate is "likely to vote" on the legislation "next week." The Conference has opined that a senate committee will take up the legislation on Monday.

Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops "Action Alert" issued before House passage of House Bill 5 this week | facebook.com/flaccb

HB 5, introduced into the House in January, would prohibit doctors "from performing abortion if gestational age of fetus is determined to be more than specified number of weeks." HB 5 also introduces several quality improvement initiatives for hospitals.

Similar legislation in the other chamber, Senate Bill 146, is in the Appropriations Committee after passing favorably out of the Health Policy Committee with a vote of 6 to 4.

Under current law in Florida, abortions are banned in the third trimester with two exceptions, to save the mother's life and avert "serious risk of imminent substantial and irreversible physical impairment" to the mother. HB 5 would retain those exceptions and add a third, in the case of the fetus suffering a fatal abnormality. Neither current Florida law nor HB 5 allow exceptions for rape or incest.

Less than a week before the House passed HB 5, the Conference issued an Action Alert urging state Representatives to support the bill.

In a Facebook post the same day, the Conference congratulated bill sponsors, Rep. Erin Grall (R-Vero Beach) and Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka (R-Fort Myers).

"We are grateful for their unwavering dedication and efforts to advance legal protections for the unborn," the Conference said in a Facebook post on Thursday. "The Senate Appropriations Committee will take up the bill next Monday."

With House passage, the Action Alert to contact state representatives is no longer active, but the Conference has since issued a call to urge state Senators to also pass the bill.