JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A ban on abortions after six weeks of being pregnant took impact in Florida on Wednesday simply after midnight.

Earlier than that, the state had been a refuge for abortion entry within the South after the Supreme Courtroom overturned Roe v. Wade. Florida banned abortions after 15 weeks in 2022, however the overwhelming majority of its neighboring states had stricter restrictions, so greater than 9,300 individuals traveled right here final yr for abortion care.

That is greater than double the quantity in 2020, in accordance with information from the Guttmacher Institute, a analysis group that helps abortion entry. Round 84,000 abortions had been carried out in Florida final yr, about 1 in 12 nationwide.

Florida’s new legislation will curtail that pattern. It’s now a felony within the state to carry out or actively take part in an abortion after six weeks’ gestation, which is about two weeks after a missed interval. The ban has exceptions for rape, incest and human trafficking as much as 15 weeks of being pregnant. State legislation additionally permits abortions to save lots of a lady’s life or to forestall “substantial and irreversible” bodily impairment, however medical doctors would possibly nonetheless fear about their authorized legal responsibility. 

“It’s going to trigger delays in care which are going to price ladies vital well being hazards or dangers,” Dr. Daniel Sacks, a supplier at Presidential Girls’s Heart in West Palm Seaside, stated of the brand new legislation. 

Abortion suppliers in Florida labored to see as many sufferers as doable within the weeks earlier than the ban took impact. They stated some sufferers had been confused about Florida’s restrictions and timelines, particularly provided that a few yr has handed since Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the six-week ban. The coverage had been quickly blocked forward of a state Supreme Courtroom ruling final month that cleared the best way for it to grow to be legislation. 

Florida additionally requires two in-person visits to a clinic, 24 hours aside, forward of an abortion — a rule some sufferers don’t learn about.

Cassie, 20, a local Floridian who requested that her final title be withheld to keep up her privateness, had her first session at an abortion clinic in Fort Pierce on Monday. She hadn’t been conscious that the six-week ban was scheduled to take impact two days later.

“I knew that they had been attempting to do it, however I didn’t know that it really occurred,” Cassie stated.

She was lower than six weeks pregnant, however she acknowledged that she might have simply missed that deadline as soon as the brand new legislation took impact. 

Cassie lives in an RV together with her accomplice and her 1-year-old son. She desires one other little one, she stated, however can’t afford it proper now. 

“I’d not be capable to present for my son as greatest as I might,” she stated, including {that a} second little one would make it “arduous to even afford to eat and even to pay for small expenditures like tires on the automotive.”

On her means into the clinic Monday, she stopped to confront a protester who urged her to proceed her being pregnant. 

“Very first thing I stated was ‘Will you assist me and my household get a mortgage?’” she stated. 

She added that she feels for the ladies in Florida who would possibly now have to hold undesirable pregnancies or journey lengthy distances to acquire abortions. 

“It’s simply not proper to inform a lady that there’s a sure period of time that you need to have an abortion,” she stated. “I want I might give these ladies a hug and assist them by it.”

Anti-abortion-rights teams are celebrating the brand new legislation.

“Florida has taken efforts to supply a sanctuary for all times, particularly essentially the most susceptible, and supply vital monetary assets for girls to supply a variety of choices and assets that might defend them and facilitate their determination to decide on life,” stated Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, a authorized group based mostly in Florida that opposes abortion rights.

He pointed to $25 million the state has put aside to develop the Florida Being pregnant Care Community, a bunch of so-called disaster being pregnant facilities. Such facilities attempt to persuade pregnant ladies to not have abortions and provide them counseling and provides, however some have been identified to present inaccurate or deceptive data.

9 Southern states have whole abortion bans, and Georgia and South Carolina ban abortions after about six weeks. So for individuals in Florida and elsewhere within the Southeast who wish to finish pregnancies, the closest choices are actually almost definitely in North Carolina, the place abortions are allowed as much as 15 weeks, and Virginia.

Florida Entry Community, a fund that helps individuals in Florida with the price of abortions — together with appointments, meals and journey — is ready for a wave of sufferers needing help with out-of-state abortions. 

“We’re dwelling in a brand new actuality the place individuals are going to be pressured to journey lengthy distances to get care, and many individuals don’t have the assets or the power to take action,” stated Stephanie Loraine Piñeiro, the group’s govt director.

A Girl’s Alternative, a community of abortion clinics with a location in Jacksonville, opened a clinic in Virginia final month in anticipation of Florida’s ban. It additionally operates three clinics in North Carolina. However Kelly Flynn, the community’s CEO, stated these different areas will not be reasonable choices for many individuals.

This week, she stated, ladies got here to the Jacksonville clinic from Mississippi and Louisiana in search of abortions earlier than Florida’s ban took impact.

Going ahead, Flynn stated, the community plans to assist ladies within the South perceive their few remaining authorized choices if they need abortions.

“Once they name our name heart, we’ll get them that data — we’ll attempt to assist them with logistics, journey, meals, fuel to assist get them to North Carolina and Virginia,” she stated.

Marissa Parra and Juliette Arcodia reported from Jacksonville and Aria Bendix from New York Metropolis. Bracey Harris contributed reporting from Jackson, Mississippi.