Republicans in the Florida Legislature are fast-tracking a 15-week abortion ban over the objections of activists and medical professionals.

Last Thursday, students activists chanted "Let us speak," after the committee chairperson, Rep. Bryan Avila - R-Miami Springs - cut off public comment to give committee members time to debate.

The bill was approved on a party-line vote. It states a "physician may not perform a termination of pregnancy if the physician determines the gestational age of the fetus is more than 15 weeks."

Dr. Guy Benrubi, a Jacksonville-based obstetrician and gynecologist, said the rule is problematic for a number of reasons.

"We have some women that only have three cycles a year," said Benrubi. "How is this woman doing to know that she hasn't had a cycle this month because she's pregnant? And, you know, 15 weeks is three-and-a-half months. She may not have a period during the three-and-a-half month period."

The ban includes an exception if the pregnant person's health is at risk, but there are no exceptions for rape or incest.

The legislature has a GOP majority and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has already signaled his support for the ban. The bill has one final committee stop this week before a House vote.

Dr. Benrubi predicted if the bill becomes law, it would have the most impact on the state's most vulnerable populations - including some who would have to drive up to 570 miles to the nearest clinic.

"Worst impact for women of color, for women who do not have a lot of resources, for rural women," said Benrubi, "because its difficult to get to providers. There are not that many providers in the state, and there are a lot of counties that have absolutely no providers."

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Florida issued this statement: "Like all medical matters, decisions regarding reproductive medical care should be made between a patient and their health care provider - not lawmakers."

The bill's next hearing is Wednesday in the Health and Human Services Committee.

Support for this reporting was provided by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Texas is home to one in 10 Americans of reproductive age, and mandated births due to the state's abortion ban will increase the number of maternal deaths, according to new research from the University of Colorado.

Currently, 26 Republican-led states plan to outlaw abortion, and there is a growing movement by conservatives to make it illegal nationwide.

Amanda Stevenson, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Colorado-Boulder and the study's lead author, said should it happen, maternal deaths would jump 13% in the first year, and increase to 24% in subsequent years.

"In the United States, the rate of maternal deaths in 2020 was 23 deaths per 100,000 births," Stevenson pointed out. "In rich countries that have good access to health care, the rate of maternal deaths is well below 10."

Texas has the eighth-highest maternal mortality rate in the nation, with just over 34 deaths due to complications of pregnancy or childbirth for every 100,000 births.

Stevenson noted just how society will facilitate access to abortion for those living in states where it is illegal, or how criminalizing it will impact health care, were not factored in.

Overall, the United States has the highest maternal death rate of any developed country, which Stevenson said climbs still higher for rural residents, and even higher for Black Americans.

"Staying pregnant is more deadly than having an abortion," Stevenson explained. "Abortion is very safe, staying pregnant is relatively deadly in the United States, and so, more people will die."

Stevenson recommended investments in maternal health care in states where abortion is illegal, especially to address racial inequalities. Neighboring New Mexico, where abortion remains legal, is now a destination state for many Texans seeking the procedure.

By Liz Carey for The Daily Yonder.
Broadcast version by Mike Moen for Prairie News Service for the Public News Service/Daily Yonder Collaboration

Already strained rural obstetrics units could find themselves dealing with even more maternity cases if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade

The court is expected to make a decision on a challenge to Roe v. Wade at the end of June, or the beginning of July. In May, a leaked draft opinion suggested that the Court is poised to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade case that established abortion rights protections nationwide. If the case is overruled, it could lead to abortion bans in nearly half of the country's states.

The resulting pregnancies, experts said, could add to the problems rural communities are experiencing when it comes to quality maternity care in their areas.

"We are already under-staffed and under-resourced for deliveries in rural areas," said Brock Slabach, COO of the National Rural Health Association. "We have maternity deserts in rural areas all over the country. If, as expected, Roe is overturned, we could have real capacity issues with many more live births."

In Michigan, he said, officials anticipate between 8,000 and 20,000 additional live births per year.

"That could overwhelm a lot of hospitals," he said. "Let me be clear - the maternity care crisis is already here. I don't want to say that it's going to get bad. It's already bad, but we are going to have to do a lot to... beef up our resources to be able to accommodate the volume of people that are going to be delivering if Roe is overturned."

According to the Commonwealth Fund, rural hospitals are closing their obstetric (OB) units, leaving fewer than half of the country's rural counties with those services. With fewer OB units, rural women are facing longer travel times to get to a hospital that can deliver their babies. The OB unit closures also mean increases in births outside hospitals, births in hospitals without obstetrics care, and preterm births - all of which put both mother and child at risk.

Katy Backes Kozhimannil, professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and director of the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center, said restricted access to abortion services would affect miscarriages and reproductive health as well.

"These services will be needed by rural residents, increasingly, at a time when rural hospitals are closing obstetric units, and rural emergency departments are ill-equipped to support emergency births and other obstetric care emergencies," she said.

"Beyond the walls of the clinic or hospital, further restrictions on reproductive health care in rural communities carry important risks for pregnant people and families, who bear the burden of suffering when needed health care is not available."

Already maternal sickness and mortality is higher for rural residents, she said. Those rates would likely increase if access to abortions is restricted. The impact would most be felt by marginalized communities within rural areas, she said.

According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the more rural an area is, the higher the rate of deaths among pregnant women. The GAO found that rural areas with small urban clusters saw 19.8 maternal deaths per every 100,000 live births, where rural areas with no urban clusters saw 23.8 deaths. In comparison, large metropolitan areas with over 1 million residents saw 14.6 deaths per every 100,000 live births, while small and mid-sized metropolitan areas saw 16.2 deaths.

Greater disparities exist by race and ethnicity, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found. Black women in rural counties had 59.3 deaths per 100,000 live births, compared to 19.7 for white women in those same counties.

"Rural communities where a majority of people are Black or Indigenous already suffer higher rates of premature death, and these are the same communities where access to rural maternity care is declining most rapidly," Kozhimannil said. "Lack of access to abortion care and other reproductive health care services is likely to amplify risk of severe maternal morbidity and mortality among those who are already at greatest risk: rural residents who are Black or Indigenous."

The impact would also be felt in emergency departments, she said, that would likely see increases in births, miscarriages, and the complications that could result from illegal abortions.

Liz Carey wrote this article for The Daily Yonder.


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A Florida judge plans to put a hold on the state's new, 15-week abortion ban, set to take effect today. He said it is unconstitutional and will issue a temporary injunction.

Groups including Planned Parenthood of America, the Center for Reproductive Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union sued the state over the law passed by Republican lawmakers, claiming it violates the right to privacy in the state constitution.

Circuit Judge John Cooper agreed, just days after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned federal protections for abortions.

Rep. Yvonne Hinson, D-Gainesville, predicted despite the new Florida ruling, Gov. Ron DeSantis will follow through on his promise to fight to keep the ban.

"He not only will appeal, but come back full force with the full weight of his office, to try and do a full ban," Hinson stressed. "We can expect that if we don't go to the polls with that understanding."

The Florida abortion ban includes no exceptions for cases of rape or incest. In response to the ruling, DeSantis said he expected it, and does not think the state constitution mandates things like, in the governor's words, "dismemberment abortions." Judge Cooper plans to issue the injunction Tuesday.

Hinson urged anyone concerned about a possible outright ban on abortions in Florida to make their voices heard at the polls, because in her view, DeSantis has been able to get what he wants, so far.

"I mean, he has followed through on everything that he has said," Hinson pointed out. "We have to believe him and, we need to vote like we believe him, because everything he does is intentional."

Judge Cooper cited Section 23 of the Florida Constitution, which states: "Every natural person has the right to be let alone and free from governmental intrusion into the person's private life except as otherwise provided herein." Republicans have long struggled to restrict abortions in the state because of the privacy clause.