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'Never thought I would see this day:' CEO of women's clinic in Jacksonville reacts to Roe v. Wade getting overturned

Kelly Flynn, CEO of A Woman's Choice, said they'll continue to provide care until they're told not to.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Kelly Flynn said having an abortion saved her life.

"It gave me the right to my freedom, to be able to have a career, to be able to be financially independent," she said.

She's now the CEO of a Woman's Choice of Jacksonville, a local women's clinic. 

"I was not in the mental space or prepared to be a parent and now, that is going to be taken away from a lot of people," she said.

She said she's devastated by the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade.

"I put my hands in my face and literally cried," Flynn said. "I never thought that I would see this day as a woman and at my age. I never thought, I never imagined it," she said.

“When did people forget about the person that’s pregnant and what that person has already built and is growing and continue to develop in life and to be able to plan their family as they see fit? Why doesn’t that person matter," she continued.

"It makes me sad, it infuriates me," Flynn said.

Flynn said she's worried women will take things into their own hands.

“When you don’t want to be pregnant, you’re going to do desperate things. I worry about women trying to self-manage abortions ... what that looks like when they wind up in the hospital and there’s a whole other specialized wing for patients who’ve tried to self-abort,” Flynn said. 

"This should not be a political issue. This decision should be made between a woman, her family and her doctor, not by these six conservative Supreme Court justices," she said.

Flynn said she's also concerned for her and her staff's safety. 

“It’s not that we’re desensitized to it because we’re not because every day we go to work we have to keep our head on a swivel, more so right now, and I was nervous about coming up here, quite honestly, because I never know what to expect," Flynn said.

There were a couple of people outside her clinic Friday who told First Coast News they were celebrating the ruling. They refused to be interviewed, however. 

RELATED: Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade; states can ban abortion

Flynn said because of constant protestors even before the ruling, an officer with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office has been there every day the clinic is open.

She said women can contact their call center at 1-800-298-8874 for information about what the decision means, and for services.

“We are still open and abortion is still legal," she said. "We are still providing care and will continue to do so until we are told not to."

Andrew Shirvell, founder of Florida Voice for the Unborn, said Friday was a win for his group.

"It's a tremendous, historic day for our country, for the American pro-life movement, a really, a watershed moment in American legal history," he said.

“I believe it's a positive step in the right direction to build an authentic culture of life here throughout the United States, and in particular, in Florida,” Shirvell continued.

He said they're calling on state lawmakers to hold a special legislative session to ban all abortions in Florida from the moment of conception.

“We need a statutory ban in place so that the Florida courts, the Florida State Courts, can use it as a vehicle to overturn our badly interpreted precedents, going all the way back to 1989 regarding the Florida Constitution," he said.

He also said we need more money allocated to supporting women who are pregnant and need help.

"Women, in fact, are going to be helped more than ever, because in Texas, the state government allocated $100 million to two pro-life crisis pregnancy centers. Now, Florida could do the same and increase their appropriation from a measly 4.5 million, which has been stuck out for a number of years, and really dramatically increase it like they've done in Texas,” he said.

Shirvell said Friday's decision gives them momentum.  

RELATED: Which states will likely ban abortion now that Roe v. Wade is overturned?

RELATED: Florida lawmakers react to SCOTUS decision to overturn Roe v. Wade

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