Along with Floridians Protecting Freedom, Hochkammer and her team are calling for an amendment that would make it unconstitutional to pass legislation restricting access to abortion before viability or when necessary for a patient’s health. A total of 890,000 signatures are needed to get this initiative into the November 2024 general election.
“The initiative we proposed is supported by 70 percent of Floridians and more than 60 percent of Republicans; even 57 percent of people who identify themselves as Trump supporters agree with the initiative’s language,” she explains. These numbers are consistent with polls showing that more than half of Americans approve of access to abortion in all or most cases.
Florida, which banned abortions after 15 weeks, is one of 21 states that have since introduced restrictions on abortion rights. Roe v. Wade was overthrown. Some of Florida’s neighbors have gone even further: Mississippi and Alabama have almost completely banned abortion, and in Georgia, women can only have abortions during the first six weeks of pregnancy.
Other organizations, however, are more pessimistic about abortion rights in Florida and expect them to be further restricted soon. In April 2023, Governor Ron DeSantis signed a six-week ban passed by the state legislature. (This legislation is on hold pending a legal challenge to the state’s current 15-week ban, which is before the Florida Supreme Court.)
Since Dobbspro-choice organizations have led efforts around abortion access. Kamila Przytuła is director of the Women Emergency Network (WEN), which has provided support to women seeking abortion through private donations since 1989.
“An abortion can cost between $500 and $1,000 if performed out of state. For some women, this may mean having to choose whether to pay their utilities or buy food,” Przytuła explains. WEN partners with other organizations that receive cases from clinics and jointly cover a portion of abortion costs. “This allowed us to help everyone who approached us for help,” she says.
According to statistics published by the Guttmacher Institute, in the first half of 2023, nearly one in five abortion patients in the United States traveled to another state to access abortion. That figure is double what it was in 2020.
Abortion bans especially impact young, Black, and migrant women – the main populations reaching out to WEN. Przytuła recalls one of the many cases she was involved in: a Central American woman, who is illiterate and HIV positive. WEN provided financial support for an abortion.
“She was in a very vulnerable situation. We heard about her case through the clinic that treated her. A few months earlier, she had emigrated to Miami with her uncle, who had no way of knowing she was pregnant. She was transported and treated at a clinic in Miami.
She is one of 600 Florida women the organization has helped obtain abortions, one of millions of women in the state facing some of America’s most extreme abortion restrictions, forcing many into secrecy.
This story was produced with support from the International Women’s Media Foundation as part of its Reproductive Health, Reproductive Rights, and Justice in the Americas initiative. It originally appeared on WIRED in Spanish. It was translated by John Newton.