A 20-year-old woman visited Chelsea Daniels’ Miami office last month and confided that she had been raped.
The woman was pregnant and it was too late for her to get an abortion now that the state’s six-week abortion was in effect — unless she could prove to the state that she had been a victim.
Victims of rape, sexual assault and incest can get the medical procedure within 15 weeks if they provide proof of the crimes against them — like a police report.
But what happened next, Daniels said, shows how Florida doesn’t truly have any “real exceptions” built since victims must go through hoops to get the documentation they need.
The woman didn’t speak English as her native language, so Daniels tried to help call the police on the woman’s behalf and even then, was unable to get the proper documentation to get abortion. The woman tried also and failed, according to the doctor.
“For this patient, who has just had the unimaginable happen to her, she was raped and is pregnant, has to leave the state in order to access care because this exception has failed her, because it is not a real exception,” Daniels said. “These are not real exceptions that actually serve our patients and help our communities.”
Daniels was one of several doctors speaking out Wednesday in favor of Amendment 4 with Floridians Protecting Freedom, the political group behind abortion rights initiative.
Amendment 4 would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution and requires at least 60% of the vote to pass Nov 5.
Opponents call the proposal cruel and attack it for what they say is vague ballot language that takes away control to regulate the procedure from state lawmakers.
The opposition — led by Gov. Ron DeSantis — says Amendment 4 will make it easier for women to have late-term abortions. Reproductive rights advocates say women carrying fetuses that are not viable and will never develop into a healthy child need the access to medical care.
Republicans accused the abortion rights initiative of removing the current rules about parent consent. Amendment 4 leaders say that’s not true; if passed, Amendment 4 does not change the law regarding consent and it explicitly says that in the ballot language.
One doctor advocating for Amendment 4 said he fears Florida will push laws over birth control and contraception if the initiative doesn’t get approved.
“The state of women’s health care in Florida is frightening and extremely sad. If we pass Amendment 4, we can change this reality. If we do not fight back. It’s going to get worse,” said Jerry Goodman, a doctor from Sarasota who has been featured in the campaign’s latest ad.
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