About halfway through a recent episode of The News Agents podcast, called A War On Women – Florida’s abortion crisis, the presenter Jon Sopel spoke to an obstetrician [a doctor specialising in pregnancy and labour] working in Florida. ‘It’s like we have the government in the examination room with us when we treat women,’ she told him.
‘We now have to abide by laws that have been passed by people who have no understanding of the nuances of what’s involved in medical care. We’ve seen women who have pregnancies with no hope of continuing who can’t receive the D&Cs [dilation and curettage, a surgical procedure to remove tissue from the uterus] they need. We’re seeing women die from infection and haemorrhage.’ She then spoke of a case in the neighbouring state of Georgia where a woman spent 20 hours in hospital and died without getting the D&C that would have saved her life. ‘I don’t feel I can adequately explain to you how difficult things are,’ she continued, close to tears. ‘It’s just horrible.’
Horrible it is. On Tuesday, a vote that would have protected abortion rights in the state of Florida fell short by just 3% of the necessary 60% approval rating required to make it state law. It was a bitter blow to those fighting for the state’s reproductive rights, and against its six-week abortion limit. Their proposal, known as Amendment 4, would have allowed abortions up to the point where a foetus is considered ‘viable’, which is usually around 24 weeks.
Earlier this year, in May 2024, a law signed by Florida governor and Republican Ron DeSantis that took effect that effectively banned abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, a time many women don’t even realise they’re pregnant. Exceptions were made for pregnancies resulting from rape, incest, or sex trafficking, but only up until 15 weeks and only then if a woman could provide documentation – such as a police report – to prove a crime had taken place. During the election, Ron DeSantis threatened television networks that aired adverts supporting Amendment 4 with legal action and sent police officers to the homes of voters who signed petitions in support of it.
This week, after Amendment 4 was rejected, Anna Hochkammer, director of Florida Women's Freedom Coalition, said, ‘The fight goes on because the women and girls of Florida continue to suffer.’ While Nancy Northup, CEO of the Center of Reproductive Rights, said that women in Florida are ‘living under an abortion ban they didn’t ask for or don’t want.’ She also pointed out that despite getting more than 50% of the vote, ‘they must continue to live with the fear, uncertainty, and denial of care caused by the reversal of Roe [vs Wade]. So too will countless women in the southeastern US, which will remain for now a virtual abortion desert.’ Florida is surrounded by states who have also almost banned abortions.
Reacting to the news, one Florida woman posted on a local news site, ‘Women have to wait until they’re on their deathbeds to get life saving medical care should something go wrong during their pregnancy. Sexual abuse survivors have to go through pregnancies they never had a choice in.’ Another wrote, ‘This will just start the backyard abortions again,’ and another called it a ‘draconian effort to prevent women having control of their bodies, reproductive choices, and lives.’ While another simply wrote, ‘My heart breaks for the women of Florida.'
In the run up to the election, reporters asked the state’s most famous resident, Donald Trump, how he voted on Florida's abortion issue. ‘Just stop talking about that,’ he told them. For the women of America, let’s not do that.