Background

In 2022, Florida passed a 15-week abortion ban after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade that June. The state legislature passed a more restrictive six-week ban in 2023, although the ban could not go into effect until legal challenges against the original 15-week ban were completed.

Last month, the Florida Supreme Court ruled 6-1 to uphold the state's original 15-week abortion ban. On Wednesday, the state's six-week ban went into effect 30 days after the ruling.

However, in a separate 4-3 ruling, the state Supreme Court allowed a ballot measure that would amend the state constitution and enshrine the right to abortion. The amendment, in part, reads that "no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient's health, as determined by the patient's healthcare provider."

If at least 60% of voters approve the amendment, it will reverse the state's six-week abortion ban and protect abortion rights until roughly 24 weeks of pregnancy.

How providers are preparing for the ban

According to the Guttmacher Institute, clinics in Florida provided around 86,000 abortions last year under its 15-week ban, including more than 9,000 for patients who traveled from other states with more restrictive bans.

However, the number of abortions provided in Florida is expected to drop significantly under the new six-week ban. For comparison, Guttmacher found that abortions dropped by around 71% and have remained at a reduced volume in South Carolina after the state implemented a six-week ban last August.

Isaac Maddow-Zimet, a data scientist at Guttmacher, said providers and support organizations are facing "an exponential increase in burden" as Florida's six-week ban further narrows options for people seeking abortion care.

"Every time there's a change, every time there's a legal decision, every time there's a new law, we have a whole 'nother bout of chaos," said Katherine Farris, medical director at Planned Parenthood South Atlantic.

To prepare for the six-week ban, Robyn Schickler, CMO of Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, said the organization extended its hours and trained more workers to help patients navigate access barriers. Providers in the state have also told patients to have pregnancy tests on hand and to seek care as soon as possible if they think they might be pregnant.

Abortion funds have also strengthened partnerships with out-of-state support organizations to help patients coordinate needed care. Under the new ban, women in Florida who are more than six weeks pregnant will have to travel over 700 miles to reach the nearest abortion clinics in North Carolina.

Women in parts of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi who could have originally received abortion care in Florida have also seen their driving distances to the nearest clinics increase by more than 100 miles.

"This is going to be the biggest change to abortion access since Dobbs, and the impact is clear: More people are going to have to travel further distances if they have the financial resources to do so, and many people will be forced to remain pregnant," said Stephanie Loraine Piñeiro, executive director of Florida Access Network, which helps women in the state travel to clinics and pay for abortions.

Currently, abortion clinics in nearby states like North Carolina or Virginia are trying to extend their capacity to accommodate new out-of-state patients, but many are already struggling to meet demand. According to research by Caitlin Myers, a professor of economics at Middlebury College, several clinics in both states are already reporting wait times up to two weeks for appointments.

"Our clinics are going to be maxed to capacity," said Amber Gavin, vice president of advocacy and operations at A Woman's Choice, an abortion provider with three locations in North Carolina and one in Florida. "There's going to be a strain on the [abortion care] ecosystem."

"This is a seismic event for everyone in the ecosystem," said Jenny Black, CEO of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic. "It is impossible to overstate the impact of this ban on abortion access in the whole Southeast, probably all up the Eastern Seaboard."

Advisory Board's resources on women's health

For more insights into women's health, including maternity care, check out Advisory Board's library of resources.

We have several resources on the top drivers of change in the maternal and reproductive health market, as well as the outlook for women's health service line.

These ready-to-use-slides can help you understand the trends impacting maternal and reproductive care and how they will impact cross-industry stakeholders. We also have research on health plans' top three priorities for maternal care.

To learn more about ways to improve women's health in the United States, this report outlines six key factors to take into consideration, including the roles of various healthcare stakeholders and the importance of cross-industry collaboration.

Advisory Board also has several resources on how to utilize technology in maternity care, including this cheat sheet on telehealth and maternity care and a case study on how digital solutions can improve access to maternity care.

For resources specifically related to abortion, we offer this infographic explaining the potential health outcomes for individuals denied abortions in their state, as well as an expert insight on the groups that are disproportionately impacted by abortion restrictions. This expert insight also explains how leaders can help their clinical workforce amid changing abortion laws. (Varn/Brugal, Axios, 5/1; Crumpler, NC Health News, 5/1; Katz et al., New York Times, 5/1)