Doctors race against Florida's six-week abortion ban

Pursuing alternatives

Zdravecky and other Planned Parenthood leaders are preparing now for a future where the number of abortions performed in Florida dramatically decreases.

To compensate, the clinics will continue to offer and expand their other services.

Clinics in Southwest and Central Florida will start offering vasectomies again, and focus on expanding access to birth control and the Plan B pill, which can be taken within 5 days after unprotected sex to prevent sperm from fertilizing an egg, Zdravecky said.

After the ban takes effect, those who can find the funds will travel to other states. For most Floridians, and most of the southeast U.S., the closest state to get an abortion past 6 weeks will be North Carolina. The closest place to terminate a pregnancy past 12 weeks will be Virginia or Illinois.

Many others will turn to the internet to order abortion pills, either illegally or through telemedicine appointments with out-of-state doctors, who can prescribe them due to “shield laws” that protect them from out-of-state prosecution, even in states like Florida where doctors are not allowed to prescribe the pills via telemedicine.

The pills are widely considered safe to use up to about 10 weeks. Florida clinics can still offer follow-up exams to those who obtained the abortion pills online.

“We want to be able to assist anyone with any type of care that we legally can do in order to make sure they have the care that they need to stay healthy,” Zdravecky said.

Florida law also bans people from obtaining the pills via mail, but the U.S. Justice Department ruled in January 2023 that the postal service can continue to deliver abortion pills to states where the pills are banned. This ruling supersedes state law.

Legal quagmire

...continued

swipe to next page