Abortion groups, doctors on 1-year anniversary of 6-week abortion ban declare: ‘We're still here'

Yahoo

01-05-2025

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A year into Florida's ban on most abortions after six weeks' gestation, the network of groups and doctors providing access to pregnancy terminations hasn't vanished.
Still, the six-week ban led to a sharp decline in the number of abortions. By the state's count, there were 19,198 fewer abortions in 2024 than in 2023. Another estimate from the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health policy and research organization tracking medication abortions from pills shipped through the mail, places the decrease in abortions at 12,100.
As of March 31, the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration reported 8,682 abortions.
In interviews with the Florida Phoenix, representatives of Planned Parenthood this week stressed that its clinics are still providing people with access to health care services that run the gamut.
'We're still here. We're still going to be here. Planned Parenthood has always been around. I cannot imagine it not being around,' said Dr. Cherise Felix, chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood of South, East, and North Florida.
'We've expanded our service line. I think it's important for the community to know we do much more than abortion care. We do vasectomies, we do prenatal care, we do fertility care. We do menopausal care. It's not just abortions and STDs (sexually transmitted diseases). But I think the community is learning that. There's a large need for Planned Parenthood.'
The Florida Supreme Court last year upheld a 15-week abortion ban, which cleared the way for a more restrictive six-week ban Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law in 2023 to take effect May 1, 2024, presuming the outcome of the court ruling.
The law bans abortions after six weeks' gestation, before many people know they're pregnant. There are exceptions for people who get pregnant as a result of rape, incest, or human trafficking. They can obtain abortions up to 15 weeks, but they must show a restraining order, police report, medical record, or court document showing that a crime is the reason they want to terminate the pregnancy.
Other exceptions to the state's six-week ban require two doctors to certify that the termination of the pregnancy is necessary to 'save the pregnant woman's life or avert a serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman.'
A single physician can approve the procedure if no other doctor is available. Abortions in the third trimester are legal if the fetus has a fatal abnormality. A proposed constitutional amendment to allow abortions up to the point of viability was approved by a majority of voters but didn't receive the necessary 60% approval to pass.
In the year since the restrictive six-week ban took effect, Felix said, more of her patients are requesting longer-acting reversible contraception (LARC) implants.
And some patients are asking for more permanent birth control, she said.
'Something I didn't expect is to see an increase in vasectomy patients — men that are seeking vasectomies because it's not safe anymore to not have really good contraception on board. And sometimes things fail, birth control pills fail, birth control sometimes fail,' she said. 'So we see a lot of men who are there who aren't really willing to leave it up to chance anymore and so they are starting to be a lot more involved in contraception as well.'
Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida Chief Medical Officer Dr. Robyn Schickler says that since the six-week ban she's seen an uptick in patients with miscarriages diagnosed by other physicians who refer them to a Planned Parenthood center because 'they don't know if they can take care of them' under Florida law.
The clinic is seeing patients seeking exceptions to the six-week ban either because they were raped or are having maternal health complications or their fetus has a fetal abnormality, Schickler said.
Florida law defines a fatal fetal abnormality as a terminal condition that, in reasonable medical judgment, regardless of the provision of life-saving medical treatment, is incompatible with life outside the womb and will result in death upon birth or imminently thereafter. Two physicians must certify in writing that there is a fatal fetal abnormality in order to qualify for an exception to the six-week ban.
The definition is narrow and leaves pregnant people in a tough situation. Schickler said that it locks out some women with fetuses with genetic or chromosomal abnormalities.
'When it doesn't qualify, it's something really bad but, medically speaking, you can't give a definitive, 'Yes, of course the fetus will die, you know, in the uterus or right after birth.' There's some things you can't, you can't say for sure. And so it doesn't fit that narrow exception,' Schickler said.
Some of Schickler's patients aren't even aware of the six-week abortion ban and are shocked when they first present and are told they cannot obtain an abortion.
'I would say the most common is they just start crying like they can't believe it. Devastation,' Schickler said, describing their reactions. 'Sometimes we'll get someone, you know, asking if you can make an exception and just do this one, which of course we can't legally. Most of the time, though, it's just it's really sad like, you know, immediate crying, complete devastation.'
Planned Parenthood affiliates across Florida refer patients to their patient navigation program, which indentifies clinics in states where they can still obtain an abortion. Statewide, more than 3,000 Florida patients have used the system in the last year, according to Planned Parenthood.
Additional groups in Florida provide money for abortions in and out of the state, which entails paying for flights, hotels, and rideshares. This year alone, the Tampa Bay Abortion Fund has helped around 1,100 people end pregnancies, said Bree Wallace, the organization's director for case management. Most of the people the fund helps end up obtaining appointments in D.C. and Illinois.
'Now, people can go within a few days sometimes, so it's definitely more expensive,' Wallace said. 'Flights alone have been, like, $600 to $800, usually, and if someone wants to bring someone with them, that doubles.'
TBAF's logistical support to help people get to their appointments added up to $91,000 last year, according to its impact report.
'It's definitely been more expensive. I mean, every case is different, but you could definitely spend almost $2,000 alone on travel for someone going out of state,' Wallace said.
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Aside from the six-week ban, there are other restrictions in Florida's abortion laws. Only doctors are authorized to provide abortions and telehealth is banned, which means physicians must be in the room when women are administered abortion medication.
Florida has a 24-hour waiting period and a requirement that patients undergo a sonogram exam before obtaining an abortion. Minors must notify their parents and secure their approval but a judge can waive those requirements.
The Tampa fund helps minors connect with The Jane Network, which provides free legal services to get a judicial bypass.
While the rate of approval for a judicial bypasses remained steady since the six-week ban went into effect, the number of petitions declined by 43% from 2022 to 2024, according to annual reports from the Office of the State Courts Administrator.
Out of 130 petitions minors filed for a court's approval to seek an abortion last year, judges approved 123. Amanda Greenfield, founder and executive director of The Jane Network, said minors seek judicial bypass because their parents are abusive or they may be estranged and not living at home.
'Often a young person will reach out to us and, by the very next day, they will have an attorney and be able to go to court, and, hopefully, get that judicial bypass granted,' Greenfield said.
Since the six-week ban, minors have been contacting the pro bono group before they know they're pregnant, Greenfield said.
'We are seeing a lot of fear with young people. Young people contact us all the time, even before they know they're pregnant, because they think there's a chance that they're pregnant,' she said. 'If so, they wanna make sure they will be able to meet all the requirements before six weeks.'
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