On Monday, the Florida state supreme court upheld a 15-week abortion ban, a move that removed the barriers to a separate, six-week ban that takes effect on 1 May.
In a separate ruling, the court also agreed to let Florida residents weigh in on the issue through a November ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights into the state constitution - a decision that opened a new front in an election already sure to be dominated by abortion politics.
"We're all holding out hope for November but realising that from May to November we are going to be turning patients away at unprecedented rates," said Dr Chelsea Daniels, a family medicine physician and abortion provider in Miami. "It feels like a punch to the gut."
Georgia is the closest state in the region to still permit the procedure but it also bans abortion after six weeks, before many women know they are pregnant. After that ban took effect, the number of abortions performed in the state fell by almost half, according to a recent analysis.
This story is from the April 03, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the April 03, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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