JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Because Florida's 15-week abortion ban is not as strict as total abortion bans in some surrounding states, clinics are seeing an influx of people seeking care from outside of Florida.
"We've already been seeing patients from Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and as far as Texas," said Christina Noce, communications director for Planned Parenthood of South, East and North Florida.
Noce says clinics that perform abortions are expanding their hours, increasing their number of appointments and hiring additional staff. Florida has a mandatory 24-hour waiting period to get an abortion so women need two appointments.
"So if you're coming from out of state and maybe you could have done a long drive, but a drive there and back in one day, now you have to stay," Noce said. "So that's additional cost, that's hotel stays and trying to find a way to afford that."
Florida's 15-week abortion ban is going back and forth in the courts but is the law now. It is more time than total abortion bans in surrounding states. Andrew Shirvell, founder of Florida Voice for the Unborn, hopes this will change.
"In the long run, I know Florida is going to join her sister red states in becoming one of the leading pro-life states in the country," Shirvell said.
Noce emphasizes abortions are still legal in Florida.
"This goes so beyond abortion," she said. "This is about who has power over you, who has the authority to make decisions about your health care and about your body and control the path of your life and your future."
Noce says "time is of the essence" and Shirvell uses those same words.
"We can't wait for tomorrow," he said. "Neither can those babies. Their lives are at stake so urgency of the matter is now."
Noce says more women are asking about long-term birth control like intrauterine devices, or IUDs.
"We recently had a young woman who was a minor in the foster care system who was a victim and survivor of human trafficking, and found herself pregnant," Noce said. "Her options and the hurdles that she had to go through to access care were almost insurmountable. So we helped her access care, but for people that already have such limited access and needs, that's who is going to be harmed the most by these bans."