MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – One day after the Florida Supreme Court paved the way for a six-week abortion ban to take effect in the Sunshine State, a South Florida abortion provider says it means many women will have to travel out-of-state if they wish to have the procedure.
The high court’s ruling upended decades of legal precedent when it voted to uphold a 15-week ban. The six-day ban will take effect May 1.
Dr. Chelsea Daniels, a physician at Planned Parenthood, said a six-week ban leaves “very little room” for patients to figure out if they are pregnant and to get an abortion.
“I’m scared for my patients,” Daniels said. “It should be a decision between you and your doctor and that is it.”
She said the ruling feels like “a punch in the gut.”
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With felony violations baked into the bill text, Daniels said she also worries about medical-exception language she said is too vague to interpret. For example, she said a line referring to a “fatal fetal abnormality” is potentially ambiguous.
“Is that ‘fatal fetal anomaly,’ meaning that there is already no cardiac activity in utero? Does that mean does that mean pregnancy would not survive outside the womb for one minute? For one hour? Four hours? One day? What is ‘fatal’?” she asked. “These exceptions are pretty meaningless and empty because they are written by non-medical professionals, And so doctors, fearful about their license and going to jail, will make more conservative decisions which leads to patients who are sick and forced to carry pregnancies to term for absolutely no medical reason.”
In short order, Florida will join the rest of the South in being one of the most restrictive states in the country for abortion.
“At this point, the nearest state that is providing care is North Carolina, to 12 weeks, and if you are above 12 weeks the nearest state will be the Virginia-DC-Maryland area,” Daniels said. “So we are really really placing patients in this super onerous, unimaginable situation here in South Florida.
VIEW THE DATA: Abortion case numbers in Florida by county and gestation reason
According to data from the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, there was a 15% increase in out-of-state abortion care from 2022 to 2023.
Representatives from Planned Parenthood said the organization is focused on increasing ultrasound appointment availability over the next 30 days as it looks ahead to November, when Florida voters will have the chance to weigh in on abortion access.
“We have been preparing for several months,” Planned Parenthood spokesperson Michelle Quesada said. “We have cross-trained many of our staff to do ultrasounds. Right now we are looking at our schedules for the next 30 days and making sure those ultrasounds appointments are open and available so we can get patients in as soon as possible.”
Regarding the ballot measure, Daniels said, “I think we have a really good shot at turning this around in November.”
But, in the meantime, Quesada said abortion providers may leave the state.
“We have had providers leave the state even under a 15-week ban, so it is definitely possible we will see doctors leave the state if they can’t fully practice at the scope of their experience and skills in the state of Florida,” she said.