I witnessed the impact of Florida’s abortion ban
Last month, I sat beside a patient I’ll call Sarah at the Michael Benjamin Abortion Services clinic in Tamarac.
Sarah was one of the lucky ones. She found out she was pregnant and made an appointment before the state’s new draconian deadline banning abortion after six weeks.
Most women don’t even know they’re pregnant at six weeks. On top of the ban, Florida law also requires patients to have an ultrasound at least 24 hours before their abortion, further delaying access to care, and review a pamphlet on fetal development and alternatives to abortion. Neither of these are medically necessary.
On that hot July afternoon, Sarah tearfully explained that she was already a mom, and she and her husband were struggling financially to care for their four children, one of whom is physically disabled and requires around-the-clock care.
Sarah’s story was one of many unfolding right now across the state.
In fact, an estimated 5 million women across Florida (and 25 million nationwide) don’t get to make that decision.
Instead, anti-choice state legislators are making it for them.
As I sat and listened to Sarah, my heart broke for the women across Florida and the U.S. who are denied reproductive healthcare.
I’ve been engaged with this issue since I was a teenager. Growing up, I trained as a clinic escort at the Planned Parenthood near my hometown in St. Louis, Missouri.
Years later, I became involved with Abortion Bridge Collaborative Fund, which funds independent abortion clinics and organizations that support them.
When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, eliminating the long-held federal right to abortion, I launched an organization called Gateway Coalition to direct funding to various Midwest groups to provide accessible abortion care.
I’ve visited many abortion clinics, met with countless patients and the incredible doctors serving them, but I was still deeply moved and surprised by what I saw in Tamarac.
A small but mighty determined staff works around the clock to provide care to the patients they can — and they refuse to turn away those they legally cannot. Instead, they’re helping patients whose pregnancies are beyond six-weeks secure appointments and funds to travel the 11 hours by car to the nearest abortion clinic in
North Carolina, or fly directly from Fort Lauderdale to Chicago or Washington D.C.
It’s not just anti-choice legislation they’re up against. The clinic now has fire doors and increased security measures to keep extremists out. Women deserve access to healthcare without government interference or fear of being harmed. We deserve to live in dignity and determine our own futures.
The only way to guarantee that scenario in Florida is at the ballot box this November.
If approved, Amendment 4 would bar restrictions on abortion in Florida before about 24
weeks. Backed by the bipartisan Florida Women’s Freedom Coalition, Amendment 4 would put the power of reproductive freedom back in the hands of women and their families, not extremist lawmakers.
Seventy-percent of Florida voters, including Republicans, Democrats and Independents, agree that women deserve access to abortion without government interference. That holds true across the country.
Since the end of Roe v. Wade, abortion has been on the ballot in seven states. In all of them — red and blue alike — voters have stood on the side of reproductive freedom.
Why? Because abortion is not a partisan issue. It is healthcare. It’s an economic issue. It’s an issue that families like Sarah’s should decide for themselves.
This Nov. 5, Florida voters will have the power to guarantee abortion access across the state by voting ‘yes’ on Amendment 4.
The health and safety of women and girls across the state of Florida (and beyond) is at stake.
Together, we can put these important decisions back in the hands of Florida families and their doctors, not politicians.