TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Democratic party said that chairwoman Nikki Fried was arrested late Monday at a sit-in protest outside the Florida State Capitol.
Fried, along with Florida's senate minority leader Lauren Book and nine other demonstrators, were arrested as the state's Senate approved a bill to ban abortion after six weeks, a measure supported by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Images shared on social media showed the two women and other demonstrators as they are handcuffed by police officers.
The vote to approve the bill prompted demonstrations at the state's Capitol that resulted in the arrest of Fried and Book by the Tallahassee Police Department.
"After multiple warnings throughout the day, protestors acknowledged they understood that anyone refusing to leave the premises at sundown would be subject to arrest," the police department said in a statement. "This evening, after sunset, the majority of the crowd left the property while 11 people refused to leave despite numerous requests. They were subsequently arrested for trespass after warning."
Florida currently prohibits abortions after 15 weeks. The new proposal must still be approved by the House before it reaches the governor's desk.
A six-week ban would more closely align Florida with the abortion restrictions of other Republican-controlled states and give DeSantis a political win on an issue important with GOP primary voters ahead of his potential White House run.
Florida Democrats and groups advocating for abortion rights say this proposal disproportionally affects low-income women and people of color.
The bill would have larger implications for abortion access throughout the South, as the nearby states of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi prohibit the procedure at all stages of pregnancy and Georgia bans it after cardiac activity can be detected, which is around six weeks.
10 Tampa Bay's Leo Santos contributed to this article.