Over 4,600 out-of-state residents have obtained abortions in Florida this year, as of Sept. 2, compared to 3,430 out-of-state residents this time last year, according to state data.
Florida currently allows abortion up to 15 weeks of pregnancy, while abortion in most of the U.S. South is banned entirely, or further restricted than in the Sunshine State.
A six-week abortion ban was approved by Florida lawmakers in April and signed into law in the dead of night by Florida Gov. and presidential candidate Ron DeSantis less than 24 hours later, but whether that limit goes into effect depends on the outcome of an ongoing lawsuit that could determine the face of abortion access in Florida.
Florida is home to 51 licensed abortion clinics, down from 71 in 2014. Orlando, one of Florida’s largest and Democratic-leaning cities, has two licensed abortion clinics. One just narrowly escaped the threat of bankruptcy after receiving a $193,000 fine from the state. Despite legislative attacks on abortion access in Florida, the state remains — as it has for years — a haven for abortion access in the U.S. South.
An increase in out-of-state abortions in Florida also fits within a broader national trend of widespread travel for care, according to a new study by the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organization that focuses on reproductive health and supports abortion rights.
The study, which gathers monthly abortion total estimates provided within the U.S. healthcare system, documents “substantial increases” in abortions in states bordering those that have completely banned abortion.
As of this week, 15 states have had laws in place fully banning abortion, after a U.S. Supreme Court decision last June ended the federal constitutional right to abortion.
A new dashboard created by the Guttmacher Institute demonstrates how states that enacted measures to protect and expand abortion access since June 24, 2022, saw increases in abortion, which researchers attribute to factors such as improved access to abortion care and people traveling to the state for care from states where abortion is banned or restricted.
In Colorado — where a measure was enacted last year to establish abortion as a fundamental right — abortions increased 89 percent from comparable periods in 2020 to 2023.
States such as New Mexico, Wyoming and South Carolina (where a six-week abortion ban only recently took effect) also saw sizable percentage increases in abortion. The actual number of abortions in South Carolina and Kansas more than doubled.
In Florida, abortion increased 13% from 2020 to 2023, according to the organization’s dashboard, despite a law enacted last year banning most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, down from 24 weeks previously, without exceptions for cases of rape or incest.
And access could be even further restricted within the next few months. State Supreme Court hearings for a lawsuit over the constitutionality of Florida’s 15-week abortion ban began last week, with plaintiffs (including an abortion provider) arguing the law violates a right to privacy clause in the state constitution.
If the conservative-leaning high court, packed with mostly DeSantis appointees, upholds the 15-week law, the decision would trigger the new law restricting abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. That law would then go into effect 30 days after such a court ruling, essentially gutting abortion rights after a point where few people even know they're pregnant.
The implications of such a ruling, as indicated through the number of people traveling to Florida for abortion care, would most certainly extend beyond state limits.
That’s why abortion rights advocates, and doctors who provide reproductive healthcare, are urging Florida residents to support a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would limit government interference in abortion and allow abortion up to fetal viability, or about 24 weeks of pregnancy.
“Whatever the outcome of this legal challenge, our campaign is poised to give voters the chance to reclaim their freedom and put a stop to politicians interfering in our personal medical decisions once and for all,” Floridians Protecting Freedom, a political committee that’s working to get abortion protections on Florida’s statewide ballot in 2024, shared in a recent statement.
“This decision belongs with the people, and that’s why we’re fighting to put abortion on the ballot in 2024,” Florida Senate Democratic leader Lauren Book similarly declared in her own statement last week. “We’ve seen the dangerous impact of abortion bans here and across the country. We must regain the rights stolen from us.”
Update 9/12/23: This story has been updated to omit a sentence stating that the Guttmacher Institute's figures did not include medication abortion. A spokesperson for the organization emailed us to clarify that medication abortions are in fact included.
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