JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A 6-1 ruling by Florida’s Supreme Court on Monday has paved the way for a six-week abortion ban to go into effect next month.
The ruling to uphold a 2022 law restricting abortions after 15 weeks was a decision with far-reaching consequences and will put the abortion issue in the spotlight this November in Florida.
RELATED: Florida Supreme Court upholds state’s 15-week abortion ban, but voters will soon have a say
Dr. Chelsea Daniels is an abortion provider at Planned Parenthood in the Miami area and she is preparing for the tighter restriction implementation on May 1.
“Six weeks is so early, so early that most people don’t know they’re pregnant, and those that do are going to be scrambling to get a slot,” Daniels said.
Once the six-week abortion ban goes into effect, the closest state where Floridians will be able to access abortion up to 12 weeks is North Carolina. An abortion later than that could mean a trip to Virginia.
But Dr. Daniels said that isn’t an option for everyone.
“It places a huge burden on patients. And so I am concerned for these patients, particularly patients who are the most marginalized, are Black and brown patients or undocumented,” she said.
Most people News4JAX talked to in Jacksonville on Tuesday about the issue said they disagreed with the six week rule.
“I just feel like it’s a woman’s choice,” Pam Gibson said.
“I feel like really women should determine if that should happen,” Beauty Banks said.
But not everyone agrees.
“People make babies. They should have them and raise them,” Katie Hersey said.
The law contains exceptions for rape, incest, human trafficking, fatal fetal abnormalities and to save the woman’s life or avoid a serious risk of permanent harm to the woman’s body.
“It is very difficult as a provider to interpret exactly what point the law covers the health of the mother. Is it when the health of the mother is at 50% risk? 51% risk? If I’m making a decision that the law disagrees with me on, am I going to jail? Am I losing my medical license? And so I think what we’re seeing is because of this purposefully vague language, providers are being conservative and are turning patients away,” Dr. Daniels said.
According to state records, more than 84,000 abortions were performed in Florida last year.
A little more than 4,200 involved patients from Duval County.
The state data also shows 7,700 patients came from out of state for an abortion in Florida.
The Florida Supreme Court also voted 4-3 on Monday to let the people decide if Florida should provide a constitutional right to an abortion that will be on the ballot this November.
The major ruling will now lead to a November ballot referendum that could impact the race for 2024.
Many political experts suspect abortion will be a big issue in November and Florida is now at the center of the debate.
Jacksonville resident Michell Williams said her top issues in November are the economy and immigration, which reflects a lot of polling. But she said abortion is important, too.
“Abortion’s not a black or white issue. There’s a lot of layers to the abortion issue. So I would have to say, yes it’s important,” Williams said.
In Williams’s opinion, abortion will drive people who follow politics to the polls but not necessarily everyone else.
Dr. Michael Binder runs UNF’s polling lab and said a lot could happen between now and November politically.
“Getting to 60% is a high bar,” Binder said, referencing the percentage of people who will need to vote in favor of protecting abortion rights for it to become law. “Even though we polled on this back in the fall it was over 60%, it was at 62%. We’re a long way from 60% in November particularly if there’s a campaign to affect this.”
Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, voters in every state with an abortion-related ballot measure have favored the side backed by abortion rights supporters.
MORE: Democrats hope an abortion ballot measure could make Florida competitive
But the real question involves the other races on the ticket, like the race for president. Binder doesn’t suspect a debate over abortion will change that.
Binder said he doesn’t see Florida turning purple again, meaning a split of Republican and Democrat voters.
“Look, is there a district that’s exceptionally competitive that this may swing? Potentially, maybe, but does this put Biden in play for winning Florida in November? No. Does this put [Senator] Rick Scott in danger? No. We’re not quite Alabama yet, but we’re close,” Binder said.
Binder said expect to start seeing a massive amount of political ads on abortion over the summer.
On Tuesday morning, right after the Florida ruling the President Biden-Kamala Harris campaign already put out a commercial on the abortion issue.
“Vice President Harris and I stand with the vast majority of Americans who support a woman’s right to choose, including in Florida, where voters will have the opportunity to make their voices heard in support of a reproductive freedom ballot initiative this November. We remain steadfast in our commitment to protecting reproductive freedom in Florida and across the nation and will continue to call on Congress to pass a law restoring the protections of Roe v. Wade in every state,” the Biden campaign wrote in an emailed statement.