Pro-life lawmakers in Florida have a golden opportunity to get legislation passed under a governor who has said he's ready to support it, a Roman Catholic lobbyist recently said.

CatholicVote Political Director Josh Mercer pointed to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' vocal support and said pro-life state lawmakers need to hop on that.

"Governor DeSantis continues to show great leadership for the state of Florida by throwing his support behind legislation similar to Mississippi that would protect unborn children in the womb after 15 weeks," CatholicVote Political Director Josh Mercer told American Catholic Tribune. "Pro-life lawmakers in the Florida legislature need to get that legislation to his desk."

The Mississippi abortion law, argued last month before the U.S. Supreme court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, would make most abortions illegal after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

In his State of the State address on Monday, Jan. 11, DeSantis expressed support for increasing funding for foster care parents and promoting adoption, Business Insider reported. Following his address, a reporter asked DeSantis about a Mississippi-style law in Florida. DeSantis replied that a law of that type would make "a lot of sense" and cited the fact that unborn children have heartbeats and are able to feel pain.

Unborn babies develop a heartbeat at around week six of pregnancy.

"There's a lot of pro-life legislation," DeSantis told reporters, FOX 10 Phoenix reported. "We're going to be welcoming it. I haven't looked at every single bill. I think if you look at what's been done in some of these other states – I mean when you start talking about 15 weeks where you have really serious pain and heartbeats and all this stuff – having protections I think is something that makes a lot of sense."

Abortion in Florida currently is permitted up to 24 weeks - six months - into pregnancy.

On the first day of the current legislative session, Florida Republican lawmakers filed legislation, according to FOX 10. That would ban abortion after 15 weeks. The bill would allow exceptions in cases where the mother is at risk of serious injury or death and in cases of fetal abnormality. House Speaker Chris Sprowls promptly endorsed the legislation.