Abortion rights advocates warn that Florida women seeking an abortion must travel hours out of state

Under Florida’s new six-week abortion ban, women needing abortions are forced to travel to Charlotte, North Carolina — the closest city to the Sunshine State’s borders.

One Florida doctor warned the wait list is too long in North Carolina, so she sends her patients as far away as Pittsburgh, Chicago and New York.

Medical providers and advocates warned about the consequences from the state’s abortion ban that went into effect this month and vowed to fight back in front of a friendly pro-abortion rights crowd Wednesday during the League of Women Voters of Orange County’s Hot Topics luncheon in Winter Park.

Floridians will decide in November where to limit government intervention on Amendment 4.

An early poll last month showed 42% percent support abortion rights while a large number — 32% — were undecided. It’s a challenge for Amendment 4 to gain the 60% threshold to pass.

The grassroots effort — with the League of Women Voters playing a major role — collected more than a million signatures to get the issue on the ballot. The state Supreme court voted 4-3 to allow Amendment 4 onto the ballot.

Advocates said the majority Floridians must travel out of state to get the medical procedures since many women don’t realize they are pregnant until past six weeks. For some women, the burden is too great to travel so they are denied access to healthcare, they said.

Dr. Kathryn Berryman typically sees her patients when they are around 18 weeks pregnant. Sometimes, she sees something devastatingly wrong in the anatomy ultrasound, like a genetic defect. The doctor and the expecting mother begin an intimate, heartbreaking conversation about what to do next.

“Politicians don’t belong in the room with us,” the Orlando doctor told the crowd Wednesday.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has said he is not planning for a Special Session which could give Republicans the opportunity to put an abortion counterproposal on the November ballot.

Advocates said Wednesday they were prepared to fight against misinformation and confusion from Republicans.

“We’re going to have to fight hard against disinformation,” said Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida’s senior director of public affairs Kait Thomson. “We know loud and clear. We want to limit government interference in our health care decisions. And they can’t take that away from us.”

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