(Broward County, Florida) When Kristen opened the door to the abortion clinic Tuesday morning, she thought she had arrived just in time.
This 22-year-old mother of two children had learned a few hours earlier that in Florida, it would be prohibited from Wednesday to abort after six weeks of pregnancy. Canceling all her plans, she had found someone to drive her around in the hopes of having an abortion before the deadline.
But it was too late. One day too late.
“The ultrasound shows you’re over the state limit,” Eileen Diamond, director of Benjamin Surgical Services International near Fort Lauderdale, told him. The test revealed that Kristen was eight weeks pregnant.
Even though the clinic could – until midnight – terminate pregnancies longer than eight weeks, another Florida law required an ultrasound at least 24 hours before the procedure, M explained with empathyme Diamond in the doctor’s office. So, Kristen couldn’t have an abortion until Wednesday…at which point her abortion would no longer be legal.
“Oh no,” Kristen said, in tears. ” No no… “
Since Wednesday, Florida clinics must refuse abortions to the majority of patients who consult them, under the new limit. However, six weeks after conception, many women do not yet know that they are pregnant. This ban, which came into force on 1er May, should constitute the greatest attack on the right to abortion in the United States since the annulment of the ruling Roe v. Wade in 2022.
PHOTOS GESI SCHILLING, THE WASHINGTON POST
On the left, Eileen Diamond, clinic director of Benjamin Surgical Services. She had to turn away eight women on Tuesday because they were more than six weeks pregnant. On the right, Destiny, 22, during a session with a social worker after her abortion.
For Kristen, the closest abortion clinic is now an 11-hour drive – 700 miles – in North Carolina. “I can help you find an appointment in another state, but you have to get there,” M told him.me Diamond Tuesday. Kristen looked at her and nodded, then laughed: Given her finances, going to North Carolina was as realistic as flying to the moon.
“I can’t afford to have three kids,” said Kristen, who, like other women quoted in this article, asked to be identified only by her first name. “But I’m not going to go to another state. I don’t have the money for that. »
The state’s new abortion law, signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2023 and upheld by the Florida Supreme Court last month, shortens the old limit of 15 weeks to 6 weeks (under of a previous law adopted shortly after the cancellation of Roe v. Wade). It will affect far more women than any other state laws that limit first trimester abortion. More than 80,000 women have abortions in Florida in a typical year, or about one in every 12 abortions nationally.
For every Floridian experiencing an unintended pregnancy, the future will now be determined by the size of the fetus on the ultrasound screen. If it is small enough to be assessed at less than six weeks, she will be able to abort. Otherwise, she will either have to order abortion pills online or travel to a clinic in another state.
“I feel so attacked,” Ilona, 42, said through tears Tuesday afternoon, after she was also denied an abortion at the Benjamin clinic. “In my opinion, it should be my right. It shouldn’t be this hard. »
PHOTO GESI SCHILLING, THE WASHINGTON POST
Benjamin Clinic staff members reviewing files at the end of the day Tuesday
Such a restrictive law will immediately disrupt access to abortion well beyond the state. The Floridians will add to the burden on clinics in North Carolina, Illinois and Virginia, already overwhelmed by the influx of women from anti-abortion states in the southeastern United States.
Referendum proposal in November
Abortion rights activists hope voters will approve a referendum proposal in November that would overturn the six-week limit and enshrine the right to abortion in Florida’s constitution. From January, access to abortion in Florida would be possible until the 24e week of pregnancy. But even if it does, tens of thousands of women will be affected by then.
The Benjamin Clinic worked to accommodate as many patients as possible before the new law came into effect, seeing twice as many patients in recent days and remaining open beyond normal hours. The last abortion of a fetus over six weeks old took place at 4:50 p.m. on Tuesday.
Benjamin Surgical Services was founded 36 years ago by obstetrician-gynecologist Michael Benjamin, well known in South Florida for beginning performing abortions in 1973, the year Roe was handed down.
Eileen Diamond had spent the previous week on the phone reaching patients who had missed appointments. After 30 years in this field, she knew how these things happen: patients lack time, the companion has an incapacity, they lack a little money.
Except Tuesday was now or never.
“It’s very important to introduce yourself as soon as possible,” repeated M.me Diamond on the phone Tuesday morning. “Can you find a way to come today?” »
She was particularly worried about Dawn, who had texted her Monday night. 12 weeks pregnant, Dawn had already been to the clinic for the ultrasound, but she was not on the operating room agenda on Tuesday. She only had part of the required amount.
“Hello, I will do everything I can for this abortion that I desperately need,” Dawn, 32, wrote to Mme Diamond at 11:32 p.m. “It’s really important that I don’t have another baby…I need your help.” Please, please help me. »
Dawn spent most of the night crying, imagining her life with one more child. She lives in a one-bedroom apartment with her four children, including a 5-month-old baby, and has just broken up with her partner. Her situation is already so precarious that she has started contacting shelters where she can temporarily house her family.
Upon her arrival at the clinic on Tuesday morning, Dawn was taken to Ms.’s office.me Diamond.
“We can do the procedure today,” M told him.me Diamond. The clinic would settle the bill.
Dawn burst into tears: “It’s a matter of life and death for me. Thank you very much,” she said.
Tuesday noon, the waiting room was almost full and around ten women were waiting in the corridor. Some came alone, others with children or their spouse. They waited for hours, passing the time on Instagram and TikTok, knowing that everyone was in the same boat, hoping to abort before the 1er may.
At the end of the day, many of these women were not going to experience the same relief as Dawn. At least six patients learned after the ultrasound that they were too far along to have an abortion in Florida.
“So I have to keep it, I have no choice, right? asked a 35-year-old mother of three.
Right away, Mme Diamond went into solution mode, as with the other refused patients. They could take a direct flight from Fort Lauderdale to Washington, she told them. There, a clinic could see them immediately and abortion rights organizations had the funds – for now, anyway – to foot the bill.
“Go home, think about all this,” said M.me Diamond to Kristen, the 22-year-old who learned she was over the six-week limit. “I’ll send you a photo of the flights; If you decide to go, I will buy the tickets. »
“It’s a service that people who believe in access to abortion provide to women,” she added.
Mme Diamond is supported by abortion assistance funds in Florida and elsewhere across the country. She works with a few clinics outside of Florida that she trusts. Several members of her staff recently visited a clinic in Washington to establish a relationship and ensure it was a good place to send patients.
“Please save room for us, we will have a lot of patients to send to you,” said M.me Diamond during a phone call with the Washington clinic Tuesday.
PHOTO GESI SCHILLING, THE WASHINGTON POST
Nurse’s aide Jessenia Puig, in an operating room at the Benjamin Clinic near Fort Lauderdale, Florida
But going to have an abortion far from home does not suit everyone, even if the trip is paid. Most women to whom Mme Diamond offered this solution had some reservations. Who would look after the children while they were away? What would happen if a medical complication occurred on the plane?
Thus, Ilona spoke of a serious hemorrhage after giving birth by cesarean section. The thought of bleeding out on the plane terrified her: “I almost died,” she said. “And now they are forcing women to travel in these dangerous conditions. »
Whenever they could, Mme Diamond and the entire clinic staff reminded patients that they would have the opportunity to vote on these laws in November: if they are angry, they should support the referendum proposal to enshrine the right to health in the Florida constitution. abortion, which requires 60% of the votes.
If each affected person forwards this message to 10 people they know […]we can hope that 60% of Floridians will see the light.
Kurt Christopher, one of the doctors at the Benjamin clinic
This slim hope means little to women who have been denied an abortion.
Isn’t there a little wiggle room? pleaded Ilona, 12 weeks pregnant, who was denied an abortion because her ultrasound was not taken 24 hours before the April 30 deadline.
A few hours, what difference does it make? “Do it anyway,” she pleaded.
Mme Diamond had to send her home.
This text was published in the Washington Post.
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