PENSACOLA, Fla. -- A bill in the Florida legislature that would put a cap on abortions passed its first subcommittee hearing Friday.

House Bill 5 is at the center of a hot debate on when the state should allow a woman to terminate a pregnancy.

Channel 3 spoke more with a Northwest Florida lawmaker who co-sponsored the bill to share her experience with opponents in Tallahassee.

Protestors broke out in chants as public comment came to a close in a sub-committee meeting on House Bill 5 Thursday.

The bill would cap most abortions at 15 weeks. It includes limited exceptions after that including when the mother's life is at risk, when pregnancy puts the mother's health at serious risk, or when the fetus likely won't live outside of the womb.

The exception regarding the survivability of the fetus would require two doctors to sign off.

Legislation like this is popping up all over the country. Last year alone, more than 100 new abortion restrictions were enacted.

State Representative Michelle Salzman co-sponsored House Bill 5, and says it's misleading to call it an "abortion ban."

"I think 'ban' is the incorrect term," Salzman said. "I don't think it's -- It's not really even fair to use that terminology. It's not banning abortions. It's saying you have until 15 weeks."

Representative Salzman serves on the House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee.

After hearing from opponents Thursday, Rep. Salzman says she was asked to speak as a supporter of the bill. She told a story about a deployment to Bosnia while serving in the Army.

"We had 24 hour surveillance," Salzman said. "Two of us would stand outside of our fence with our M16's to make sure that no one came into our perimeter. There was three rows of Concertina wire around the perimeter to keep people out. Surrounded by landmines. Getting fired upon. Imagine one night waking up, you're not being shot at. There aren't bombs going off. It's your company XO. He's on top of you with his hand over your face so you can't say anything. You see I was raped. I was raped downrange. Something I don't talk about very often, but it matters in this conversation."

Rep. Salzman spoke about times when doctors told her she had medical cause for an abortion -- experiences she says help guide her as a lawmaker, but shouldn't serve as her deciding factor.

"Sharing that story yesterday, sharing that one piece of my experience, being assaulted, raped by my XO, and giving that piece of humanity -- that personal experience to the opposition of that bill, allowed them for one moment to understand we're not dehumanizing your experience," Salzman told Channel 3. "...But we have to separate those experiences, those possibilities from how we create law."

A new Gallup poll shows only 24 percent of Americans are satisfied with U.S. abortion policies, the lowest in two decades.

"For me, I don't think it's about choice," Salzman said. "I think it's really about humanity. We don't have the ability to put our parents down if they're ill. In the state of Florida, there is no such thing as physician assisted suicide."

The bill now goes to the Full Health and Human Services Committee, but the date isn't yet set.