Florida’s Abortion Ban After 6 Weeks Now In Effect
Starting today, the window in which a pregnant person can get an abortion in Florida was reduced from 15 weeks to six. Leading up to the new law taking effect, abortion clinics rushed to treat as many patients as possible.
Starting Wednesday, people will lose access to legal abortions in Florida beyond six weeks of pregnancy.聽The restriction replaces a 15-week ban that's been in effect since July 2022, shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Abortion rights supporters say it will dramatically curb access to the procedure for thousands of residents in Florida and around the Southeast. Proponents of the ban say it 鈥減rotects life.鈥 (Colombini, 4/30)
Abortion clinics in Florida say they have been trying to see as many patients as possible before the state's ban on abortions after six weeks takes effect Wednesday. In Jacksonville, a clinic called A Woman鈥檚 Choice provided around double its usual volume of abortions Monday, according to Amber Gavin, its vice president of advocacy and operations. (Parra, Harris, Bendix and Arcodia, 4/30)
A six-week abortion ban taking effect today in Florida will usher in a significant shift in abortion access in the South. The new restrictions position North Carolina as one of the last places in the South that allows abortion past six weeks of pregnancy 鈥 a point at which many women do not yet know they are pregnant. (Crumpler, 5/1)
Florida's six-week abortion ban goes into effect Wednesday, but its impact will sweep far beyond the Sunshine State. Florida's new abortion law 鈥 one of the strictest limits in the nation 鈥 means its role as a post-Roe refuge for people seeking care in the U.S. South will dramatically change. (Habeshian, 5/1)
Abortion news from Arizona 鈥
Arizona lawmakers seemed poised on Wednesday to repeal an abortion ban that first became law when Abraham Lincoln was president and a half-century before women won the right to vote. The expected vote in the Arizona State Senate could be the culmination of a fevered effort to repeal the law that has made abortion a central focus of Arizona鈥檚 politics. (Healy, 5/1)
In related election news 鈥
Vice President Harris on Wednesday will head to Florida as the state鈥檚 six-week abortion ban is set to take effect, using the occasion to tear into former President Trump for his most recent comments about reproductive rights if he is reelected. Harris will deliver remarks in Jacksonville, where a Biden campaign official said she will describe Florida鈥檚 new law as one of the 鈥淭rump abortion bans鈥 that have been implemented since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022. (Samuels, 5/1)
Former President Trump in a new interview suggested states with restrictive abortion bans might monitor women鈥檚 pregnancies and should be left to decide whether to prosecute women for having the procedure. Trump sat for an interview earlier this month聽with Time Magazine聽about his plans for a possible second term. When asked about various abortion policies and how he would handle them if he is elected in November, Trump repeatedly said it should be left up to individual states to decide. (Samuels, 4/30)
In exclusive interviews, the former President lays out a second-term agenda that would reshape America and its role in the world. (Cortellessa, 4/30)