JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Effective Wednesday, the 15-week timeline to decide if a mother wants to go forward with an abortion is now down to just six weeks.
“Only 2% of abortions happen after 15 weeks,” said Judy Weber, CEO of First Coast Women Services.
The six centers throughout Northern Florida cater to the needs of expecting mothers who are going through an unplanned pregnancy.
From the day Roe v. Wade was overturned until now when the abortion ban is reduced, many mothers come in with questions about what the abortion bans look like in Florida.
“This law was not made to punish these young women. The law was made to stop people who are doing the abortions, people who are selling the abortion pills, as opposed to trying to come after these young women and their boyfriends.” Weber added.
Legislators are calling this 6 week abortion ban the Florida Heartbeat Protection Act because this is typically the time where the baby's heartbeat is detectable.
So now, abortions in Florida are legal within the first six weeks the baby is conceived.
“You don't know that you're pregnant till four weeks and so they're going to be rushing around causing anxiety for a lot of women,” Weber explained.
Now there are exceptions to the law like rape, human trafficking or if the woman's life is in danger.
Also if a woman has a miscarriage or an ectopic pregnancy they will not be denied medical care.
With this law, centers like First Coast Women Services are anticipating having to move quicker with patients to inform them of all of their choices.
“It will cause lots of women to have to rethink more seriously, what's another option for me,” Weber mentioned.
Now if expectant mothers choose to take the abortion pill within those first six weeks the law says it must be administered in person by a physician, not through the mail.
However the abortion ban may change again in November. Along with the names on the presidential ballot, Florida voters will see a question about Amendment Four, the amendment to limit government interference in abortion.
“If that passes, what it says or what it means in Florida, what it means is actually abortion will be legal up to birth,” Weber said.
The amendment also removes the mandatory parental consent for abortions performed on minors, the mother would just need the consent of the healthcare provider.
“It can be any health care provider, it can be the abortionist, it can be her psychologist, a psychiatrist, some other health care person that says it's in your best interests to have an abortion, and then abortion will be legal up to the moment of birth,” Weber added.
And with the laws changing so much, Weber and her teams at First Coast Women Services are dedicated to educate every person that walks through their doors about their reproductive rights.