Florida's pro-choice community sounds alarm as 6-week abortion prohibition goes into effect

A new law in Florida that limits abortion from the sixth week of pregnancy went into effect Wednesday, May 1. The new law, which has sparked concern among the pro-choice community in the Sunshine State has led clinics, patients and abortion rights activists in the state to prepare for the impact of the legislation.

Signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis last year and upheld by the Florida Supreme Court earlier this month, the law will transform the state's abortion landscape overnight.

“The Southeast is already experiencing a public health crisis and banning abortion in Florida will only make the situation worse,” Lauren Brenzel, campaign director of Floridians Protecting Freedom, told the EFE news agency.

This organization took to the state Supreme Court, which ended up agreeing with them, a campaign to submit an amendment to the Florida Constitution to a referendum in the next November elections, which, if it achieves a minimum of 60% of votes in favor , would protect access to abortion and “without interference from politicians,” according to the aforementioned media.

With the entry into force of this new law, Florida joins the 21 states that have implemented time restrictions for abortion.

The change marks a significant transformation, since Florida was previously a state with few restrictions on the practice of abortion in the Southern United States.

Shortly before the law went into effect, some pro-choice advocates were encouraging women who wanted a procedure performed to ensure they reported to a medical facility before May 1.

“People are doing everything they can to get there before the deadline,” Kelly Flynn, president and CEO of A Woman's Choice, a network of abortion clinics, previously told the Wall Street Journal. “We’re telling them, ‘Hey, it’s going to be busy.’ We don’t want them to be surprised when they walk in.”

After the new law went into effect on Wednesday, many clinics that offered those service stopped providing it to women more than six weeks pregnant.

For example, Planned Parenthood (PP), one of the largest medical institutions that offers this service in several states in the United States, has already announced that in accordance with state law, it will stop offering assistance to women more than six weeks pregnant.

"By banning abortion after six weeks, before many people even realize they are pregnant, politicians have managed to dramatically accelerate our nation's growing public health crisis by forcing millions more people to carry pregnancies. against their will or traveling hundreds of miles to access essential care," said Barbara Zdravecky, interim CEO of PP to another media outlet in the region that reported on this issue today.

“There are not enough states with abortion access to serve tens of thousands of patients. The closest state is North Carolina, which only has access up to 12 weeks of pregnancy and a 72-hour waiting period. The next largest state nearby is Virginia, which is now the only state in the southeast that does not prohibit abortion,” the medical entity said in a press release.

Historically, health laws, including those related to abortion, have been prominent issues in political campaigns. According to polls, it is expected that the debate on this particular issue will also determine the race in the next presidential elections.

Regarding the possibility of repealing the law with a constitutional referendum this November, Clara Trullenque, spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Florida, said that they cannot predict the future “since Florida is a politically diverse state with strong opinions on both sides of the political spectrum,” according to EFE.

Trullenque cited a recent poll, according to which 64% of Floridians support abortion.

However, a Florida Atlantic University (FAU) poll shows that the constitutional amendment only has 49% support, while 32% are undecided.