HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — Medical providers are preparing for Florida’s six-week
abortion ban, which takes effect May 1. Those in favor of the ban say it will save the lives of thousands of lives. However, some organizations worry it will create a public health crisis when the measure takes effect in just a few weeks. “It’s going to be a public health crisis,” said Laura Goodhue with
Florida Planned Parenthood. Goodhue says the ban will dramatically limit abortion access. “Unfortunately, they’re still going to be a lot of people who need abortion care after six weeks, which is before most people even know that they’re pregnant,” she said. Florida House Speaker Rep. Paul Renner calls the six-week ban a compromise. “We begin when a child has a heartbeat. We also have broad exceptions for rape, incest human trafficking, the life of the mother, fetal abnormalities, so it’s a compromise that I think addresses where many Floridians are,” Renner said. Florida’s policy has national impact. Data shows that
Women currently travel to the state for abortions because the existing 15-week ban is actually less restrictive than policies in neighboring states. When the new law takes effect, that trend is expected to reverse. “Around 9,000 people traveled from out of state to Florida for abortion care,” said Isaac Maddow-Zimet, a Data Scientist with Guttmacher Institute, who is the lead researcher on a study that tracks the number of abortions monthly in each state as well as the number of people traveling across state lines. “Once the ban does go into effect, providers will have to scramble in order to be able to scale up to provide care to a lot more people in a much more narrow window.” Clinics like Planned Parenthood say they plan to follow the law. Their focus will be helping women find options in other less restrictive states like North Carolina and
Virginia. “Now they have to go to another state, when this is already been like a really traumatizing experience. We’re going to do the same patient care navigation, with travel funds, but it’s not going to be easy,” said Goodhue. A less restrictive abortion measure will be on the November ballot, limiting abortion before viability, or before a pregnancy can survive outside of the womb. If voters pass that measure, it would go into place by January, according to Goodhue. “It’s the only policy option we have left,” she said.