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‘No help here’: Florida abortion ruling leaves women with few options

The law allowed to go into effect by Florida’s Supreme Court will affect more people seeking abortions in the first trimester than any other ban to date

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April 2, 2024 at 9:30 a.m. EDT
An abortion rights demonstrator holds a sign in Miami after the Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overturning Roe v. Wade, on June 24, 2022. (Marco Bello/Reuters)
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More than 80,000 women get an abortion in Florida in a typical year — accounting for about 1 in 12 abortions in the country.

Now, most of those women will need to find somewhere else to go.

With the Florida Supreme Court’s decision Monday night upholding an existing 15-week ban and allowing a strict new six-week ban to take effect in 30 days, the court has cut off nearly all abortion access across the South, where all other states have either implemented similar bans or outlawed abortion entirely since Roe v. Wade was overturned.