Florida's new six-week abortion ban will have repercussions beyond the state

Florida's six-week abortion ban has gone into effect, closing the door to the southern United States' last access point for abortions for the foreseeable future.

Anti-abortion activists have hailed the new law, which replaces the existing 15-week law, as the gold standard in abortion policy and a major victory in the country's fight over abortion access.

But pro-choice campaigners say the ban will push an overstretched system to the brink.

They found that a new law in Florida, the last state in the region without a near-total ban, would increase access to abortion for more than 21 million women of reproductive age in nearly a dozen states. I'm concerned that it will be cut off.

“This essentially creates an abortion desert in the southeastern part of our country,” said Michelle Quesada, a spokeswoman for family planning organizations in south, east and north Florida. “This would be devastating.”

But that change could be reversed as early as November, when Floridians will vote on a ballot measure known as Amendment 4 that would protect abortion access until around 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Following this landmark ruling in June 2022, most Republican-controlled states will restrict abortions completely or in the sixth week of pregnancy, when many women do not yet know they are pregnant. I moved in that direction.

Abortion was legal there up to 15 weeks, making it a relatively safe place for women seeking abortions in the area.

After Roe v. Wade was overturned, Florida became “one of the primary access points for abortion care within the formal health care system in the South,” said a data scientist at the pro-choice research group Guttmacher Institute. Isaac Maddow-Zimmet said.

More than 84,000 abortions were performed in Florida last year, a 12% increase from 2020.

More than half of that increase will come from out-of-state cases, with an estimated 9,000 in 2023 alone, Madouzimet said.

A new Florida law restricts abortions six weeks after a woman's last menstrual period.

Patients will also be required to come in for two in-person appointments at least 24 hours apart, a requirement that health care providers say is difficult with already limited time windows.

Daniella Martins, a spokeswoman for Women's Emergency Network (WEM), a South Florida abortion fund, said the new law “makes it virtually impossible for people to get care on time.”

The law includes limited exceptions for victims of rape, incest, and human trafficking up to 15 weeks pregnant, and requires patients to provide documentation such as medical records and police reports. This includes exceptions for fatal fetal abnormalities and the life of a pregnant person.

Abortion providers and advocates say many patients will be left in the lurch, unable to travel hundreds of miles for an appointment or at already crowded clinics in Virginia, North Carolina and Illinois. He said he would either be unable to find a place to book. Closest state where abortion is widely available.

“We don't have space for all the patients we see.'' [in Florida]That’s just not possible,” said Amber Gavin, vice president of advocacy at A Woman’s Choice, an independent abortion clinic based in Jacksonville.

The new law has been welcomed by anti-abortion activists and influential state Republicans who have lamented that Florida is becoming a hub for out-of-state patients.

“We don't want to become an abortion tourist destination,” Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said last year. His office did not respond to the BBC's request for comment.

DeSantis signed the six-week ban last April, but legal challenges put it on hold until a state Supreme Court ruling last month cleared the way for it to go into effect.

Matt Staver, founder and chairman of the Florida-based anti-abortion group Liberty Counsel, told the BBC that Florida could now become a “sanctuary for life.”

“Today is a great day to protect unborn children,” he said.

Mr Staver highlighted that the six-week law also includes $30m (£24m) allocated annually to support pregnant women and newborns, funding for formula, car seats, adoptions and parenting classes. did.

“The state of Florida is speaking out and protecting mothers and children,” he said.

Pregnant women in Florida are “extremely vulnerable” to poor prognosis, with nearly a quarter of all pregnant women receiving “inadequate” prenatal care, according to the March of Dimes, a nonpartisan maternal and child health nonprofit. It is said that he is receiving

But a second Florida Supreme Court ruling means the ban could be temporary.

The same day the court gave the green light to the six-week ban, it approved a ballot question asking voters whether to amend the state constitution to protect abortions up to about 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Supporters of Amendment 4 cite internal polling that suggests the amendment has the support of more than 60% of Florida voters, the threshold needed for passage.

And while all seven abortion voting plans launched in other states in the months since Roe was overturned have been successful, most have required lower standards and require a simple majority. It has been approved.

Both anti-abortion and pro-abortion activists have launched intensive vote-getting campaigns, hoping to gather enough support in time for the November vote.

“The next few months are going to be very important,” said Liberty Counsel's Staver. “Everything is at stake in this amendment, and it is the fight of our lives.”

Pro-choice advocates warn that even if the Fourth Amendment passes in November, some women will still be forced into unwanted or unsafe pregnancies.

Planned Parenthood's Michelle Quesada said some clinics in the state will also likely be forced to close and doctors will likely be forced out of the state.

“It just reduces access and options for Floridians,” she said. “This is devastating.”