JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The CEO of A Woman's Choice said they received an influx of calls Tuesday following the news that Roe v. Wade may be overturned.
CEO Kelly Flynn said the women who called were worried, and wanted to book appointments as soon as possible. The high court opinion is still a draft right now that was leaked to Politico.
"I had an abortion 23 years ago, and it saved my life, and it led me to this work now," Flynn said.
Flynn said she doesn't know what she would've done if safe, legal abortions hadn't been available to her.
"I wasn't at a place in my life where I was ready to be a mother, where I was ready to have a family, I still had big dreams, big hopes. I had things that I wanted to accomplish," Flynn said. "I have a son now who I love more than anything and all of my attention goes to him, and of course my work, so I feel like everything kind of came full circle for me."
Hearing other women may not have that option is concerning, she said.
"Abortion access has been available for the last 49 years, so if this decision happens, it's going to be a detriment to our society," Flynn said.
"What we know right now is that we have to continue to provide safe abortion care for as long we can. Women will seek other places to have unsafe abortions, and I think we are going backwards with this and not forwards, and to live in a world where the option for a reproductive choice is not available is foreign to me and is foreign to many other people," Flynn said.
She said one of her biggest fears is for women who don't have the resources to seek a safe abortion.
"When you're in a desperate situation, you do desperate things and so what we're afraid of is going back to pre-Roe when you have hospital wings that are dedicated for botched abortions, patients coming in with infections from trying to self-abort," Flynn said.
First Coast News reached out to Jacksonville for Life, a pro-life nonprofit, about the draft, and a spokesperson said they had no comment.
Americans United for Life, an anti-abortion law firm located in Washington, D.C. issued a statement reading in part that it "applauds the Supreme Court's courage in abolishing its abortion precedents." It went on to say the group will work to end abortion completely.
Florida's lawmakers passed a bill banning abortions after 15 weeks in March. It's set to take effect July 1. The only exceptions to the ban include if the mother is at risk of death or "irreversible physical impairment," or if the fetus has a fatal abnormality.