Countdown to Florida's Abortion Ban
The law coming May 1 will decimate access across the South
Florida’s 6-week abortion ban goes into effect this week, which will decimate access not just in the state, but across the region. Remember, Florida alone has as many people in it as the populations of Greece and Sweden combined, and abortion clinics in the state have been serving a tremendous amount of out-of-state patients. (Florida saw the second-largest surge in abortion patients since Dobbs.)
In other words, there’s no overstating how bad this will be once that law is enacted on May 1st. Here’s a refresher on the ban, for those who need it:
Like all 6-week bans, it will outlaw nearly all abortion. Many people don’t know that they’re pregnant just six weeks into pregnancy.
The rape and incest ‘exceptions’, available up until 15 weeks of pregnancy, require victims to bring evidence of their attack, like a police report, to ‘prove’ that they’ve been victimized. It’s a hurdle that will keep the vast majority of victims from seeking care.
The law also has a so-called exception before the third trimester for “fatal fetal abnormalities,” a non-medical term that leaves doctors risking prison time if the state decides that the fetus’ condition wasn’t really fatal. From a Florida healthcare provider in the Orlando Sentinel:
“I’ve asked three attorneys: What does immediately [fatal] mean? And one told me one day, one told me one week, and one told me a month. How am I supposed to interpret this?”
It’s also worth mentioning that even under the state’s current 15-week ban, women with nonviable pregnancies haven’t been able to get care. I’ll never forget this heart-breaking piece in The Washington Post.
And then there’s the criminalization bit: The ban says that anyone who “willfully performs, or actively participates in” an abortion is guilty of a felony. That language is deliberately broad enough that a prosecutor could use it to target someone who lends a friend money for an abortion, or drives them to get one.
Pro-choice activists and Florida Democrats also point out that patients themselves could be accused of “actively participating” in obtaining abortions. Gov. Ron DeSantis claims that women won’t be criminalized under the law, and has tried to talk around the language of the ban. When asked whether patients are “actively participating” in abortion, for example, DeSantis claimed it wouldn’t apply because a woman is “not a medical practitioner.” But when someone takes an abortion pill, that ‘participation’ is about as ‘active’ as you get.
Florida doctors are trying to see as many patients as they can before Wednesday, and making sure that people know about the change in the law. Dr. Chelsea Daniels says that she has signs up all over her clinic and they’re spreading the word, but “it’s really hard to overstate the panic that people are going to feel,” once they figure out they can’t get care.
Abortion funds across the country are also preparing for the ban to take effect, knowing that they’re about to see a huge influx of people needing help to leave Southern states. It’s important to remember that traveling out-of-state for an abortion isn’t just a financial or logistical hurdle—but a mental and emotional one. One abortion fund director tells The New York Times, for example, “When we are sending people on a plane, generally it’s their first time flying…When we’re sending Southerners to the North in the middle of winter, people don’t have coats.”
Abortion rights activists in Florida hope the 6-week ban will be short-lived—voters will have a chance to restore abortion rights by supporting Amendment 4, a pro-choice ballot measure. But while abortion rights has won every time it’s been on the ballot since Dobbs, Florida activists need to get 60% of the vote to pass their amendment instead of a simple majority.
The good news is that polling late last year showed that over 60% of Florida voters support the pro-choice amendment, including the majority of Republicans. I also think it’s safe to assume that support will increase in the wake of the 6-week ban, especially as people start to see the consequences of the law in action.
The law is also having a national political impact: As a result of the wildly unpopular ban and widespread post-Roe outrage, Democrats are hoping they might be able to carry Florida in November. Specifically, they’re counting on voters who come out to support Amendment 4 to cast a vote for President Joe Biden while they’re there. That’s why Biden was in the state last week to rail against Donald Trump and place the blame for the ban on his doorstep:
“Donald Trump is worried voters are going to hold him accountable for the cruelty and chaos he’s created. The bad news for Trump is that we are going to hold him accountable. He should be held accountable.”
Vice President Kamala Harris—who has been on a speaking tour about abortion rights—will also visit Florida this week.
Abortion, Every Day will continue to bring you Florida coverage as the law takes effect, but if you want to help right now, consider donating to Florida abortion funds.
So the South owned slaves. Now they're doing it again, just with pregnant women and girls now.
This is a pro-choice, pro-freedom, country. We WILL get our rights back. Dobbs will be the rocks on which we eventually BREAK the Republican party. I am enraged and heartbroken, though, how many women and girls will needlessly suffer in the meanwhile.