With abortion restrictions strong in the South after the unwinding of Roe v. Wade kicked abortion law back to the states last June, Florida has become a haven for out-of-state abortions.
But new Republican supermajorities in Florida are proposing to move the state's abortion restriction from 15 weeks to the standard set by deep-red states: Just six weeks of pregnancy.
Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis, a burgeoning 2024 presidential contender, would be inclined to sign it once is passes the Florida Legislature, according to Politico.
Abortion-seekers in the South have flocked to Florida to end their pregnancies they could not end in states with six-week restrictions. There were 6,708 out-of-state abortions last year, a 37% increase from 2021 — and 3,917 from June 1-Dec. 31, a 140% increase over the same months — according to Florida Agency for Health Care Administration data.
"Our health centers in Tallahassee and Jacksonville receive more patients from other states where abortion access is even more restricted than it is in Florida," Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Clara Trullenque told Politico.
"We are continuing to hire additional staff, extend hours and make every accommodation we can to ensure we can serve all of our patients."
There is increasing money in abortion flowing into Florida, too, including from national advocacy groups, according to the report.
"We're working really closely with local and national abortion funds to make sure people who reach out to us can get care they need and that we get the care we need," A Woman's Choice VP Amber Gavin of Jacksonville, Florida, told Politico. "There's specialized funding to make sure they are able to get the funds to get their care.
"They've just been coming from all over," she added.
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Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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