Florida becomes latest state to enact six-week abortion ban

BRADENTON — On Wednesday, Florida's controversial six-week abortion ban went into effect. 

Since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, 16 states have banned abortion procedures completely. Eight of those states are in the South (Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Tennessee). Florida now joins Georgia and South Carolina as states with six-week abortion bans.

Under the state’s previous law, which allowed for abortions up until 15 weeks of pregnancy, there were more than 84,000 abortions provided in Florida last year, according to state records. Some 7,736 were performed on women who crossed state lines to access abortion care here. 

Amendment 4, a state-level constitutional amendment that would protect a woman’s right to an abortion up until the time of viability, will be on the November ballot. If passed, it would return Florida law to its pre-2022 status, the year that the legislature passed a 15-week abortion ban.