'Women in crisis will have their lives put at risk' as Florida abortion ban takes effect

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00:00 by Elizabeth Sepper, a law professor at the University of Texas. She's a nationally recognized

00:04 scholar of religious liberty, health law, and equality. Thanks so much for being with us here

00:08 on Friends 24. So this law in Florida, which goes into effect today, it's expected to really

00:13 transform access to abortion across the South. How specifically will this law impact women in

00:19 Florida? I mean, how far will they have to travel, for example, to get an abortion if they want one?

00:25 So Florida put into place a 15-week ban in 2022. The six-week ban, of course, is a near total ban,

00:33 and it's going to affect women throughout the South. We know that in 2023, more than 9,000

00:39 women traveled to Florida for abortions they could not receive in their own states.

00:44 And now, once the six-week ban is in effect, women in Miami will have to travel nearly 1,200

00:52 kilometers in order to access abortion. So enormous burdens on the people of Florida.

00:58 Don't bans like this have an oversized impact on women on the lower end of the economic spectrum

01:03 who may not have the means to travel hundreds of miles to get an abortion?

01:07 Yes. For abortions that are scheduled, certainly those without means are going to find it more

01:15 difficult to travel. Mothers will find it very difficult to secure child care. Many states

01:21 require multiple visits, which will mean prolonged trips away from home. But it's important to note

01:27 that in states with bans in place and very limited exceptions for health and for life, like the one

01:35 Florida just put into effect, bans affect miscarriage management. They affect crises

01:40 in pregnancy. And so women across the socioeconomic spectrum are going to find that in crisis,

01:47 their lives and health are going to be put at risk in emergency departments across the state.

01:52 Well, so as we said, there's a referendum on the November ballot in Florida to enshrine

01:56 abortion rights in the state's constitution. But in the meantime, what impact will there be

02:01 on abortion clinics in Florida? And would they be able to reopen if this ban is lifted by the

02:07 voters in November? The impact is likely to be pretty extreme. We're going to see abortion

02:13 clinics close. And even if the ballot initiative passes, it's likely that many will not be able

02:19 to reopen. We saw this in Texas in 2016 when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down some Texas

02:28 abortion regulations that were being challenged. But in the meantime, while that was being

02:32 litigated, half of abortion clinics closed and very few of them were able to reopen again because

02:39 of the startup costs. Now, even with this ban in place, do women in Florida still have access to

02:45 abortion medications? Can they receive them in the mail? And if not, is that something that

02:49 will now go underground? Medication abortion is part of Florida's ban and therefore is prohibited

02:57 past that six-week mark, which is a point in time when most people may be just finding out

03:02 that they're pregnant. So medication abortion is also banned under the Florida law. It is likely

03:08 that people in Florida, as in other states throughout the South, will order medication

03:14 abortion via various Internet sources and take those pills in the privacy of their home, despite

03:20 the abortion ban in place. Is that something that's happening now and can it be prevented?

03:25 Are states trying to do anything to prevent people from receiving those medications?

03:31 It is happening now on a very wide scale in abortion ban states. States have put into place

03:39 some limited number of laws that might reach medication abortion mailing, including in Texas.

03:46 What's really lurking over this is the November election for president because there is a federal

03:51 law from the 1800s that President Trump, if elected, would be able to use to prosecute people

04:00 who put medication abortion in the mail or receive it. I know you're not a political science professor,

04:06 you're a law professor, but I do want to ask a question here about the election coming up.

04:10 How do you see the issue of abortion rights affecting the election in November, both with

04:15 regard to this referendum and the presidential race, given that Florida traditionally trends Republican?

04:25 So abortion has been an issue that has united voters across the political spectrum. Whether

04:34 or not people would choose abortion for themselves or think that they would not,

04:38 most people think that decision should be between the pregnant person and their physician.

04:44 Now I'm not a political scientist, right, and the interaction between partisan politics

04:49 and abortion I think gets a little bit more complicated.

04:52 Okay, we'll have to leave it there. Elizabeth Sepper, law professor at the University of Texas.

04:55 Thanks so much for joining us here on France 24. We really appreciate it.

04:58 Thank you.

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