Florida's Six-Week Abortion Ban Threatens Monumental Impact on Abortion Access in North Carolina

RALEIGH, NC – The Florida Supreme Court issued a ruling this week that paves the way for an extreme six-week abortion ban to take effect on May 1, 2024. Since the fall of Roe v. Wade, more than 21 states have enacted laws that severely restrict or outright ban abortion, positioning North Carolina, Virginia and Florida as critical access points for patients seeking abortion care across the southeast. 

More than 80,000 abortions were performed in Florida last year, accounting for approximately 1 in 12 abortions nationwide. After May 1, North Carolina will be the closest state for Floridians—and many others across the region—to access abortion care after six weeks, a point at which many people do not even know they are pregnant. North Carolina abortion providers are preparing to meet the anticipated surge of patients forced to flee their home states to access health care.

Currently, North Carolina bans abortion after 12 weeks. This ban was signed into law in 2023, severely limiting access to care statewide, and adding burdensome restrictions for patients and providers to overcome. North Carolinians are now forced to contend with these significant barriers to care and longer wait times in what was already a constrained reproductive health care ecosystem.

Statement from Planned Parenthood South Atlantic CEO and President Jenny Black:

“Planned Parenthood health center staff in North Carolina are doing their level best to quickly expand capacity and increase appointment availability ahead of the near total ban in Florida taking effect, but it will not be enough to stem the tide of patients from across the South who have few options left. Patients who would have gotten an abortion in Florida will now be forced to travel hundreds of miles to obtain care in North Carolina and others may have to travel even farther to Virginia. Tragically, there will be countless others who are forced to remain pregnant, obtain care outside the health care system, or give birth against their will.

Let’s be clear this was always the goal of these cruel bans. Anti-abortion lawmakers are hellbent on controlling our bodies, our lives and our futures. The politicians who’ve created this public health crisis must be held accountable for the irreparable harm they’ve caused in our state and across the nation.

We must acknowledge the staggering challenges ahead, but Planned Parenthood South Atlantic is determined to provide as many people as possible with the abortion care they desperately want and need. We will continue to adapt and expand access to those services to the best of our ability. We remain firmly committed to holding our doors open as wide as we can – providing accessible, quality abortion care, no matter what."

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Planned Parenthood South Atlantic (PPSAT) is a nonprofit health care provider offering a wide range of affordable and reliable reproductive and sexual health care services in 14 locations across North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia. PPSAT provides abortion services in North Carolina (Asheville, Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Chapel Hill, Fayetteville, and Wilmington), South Carolina (Columbia and Charleston), and Virginia (Roanoke and Charlottesville).

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Background:

• Current wait times for abortion patients at Planned Parenthood South Atlantic’s North Carolina health centers are approximately two weeks and are likely to increase as demand grows across the region. Time is of the essence for patients in North Carolina due to the state's 12-week ban. PPSAT urges anyone in need of abortion care to contact a provider as soon as possible.
• Since the Dobbs decision, 32% of abortions in PPSAT’s North Carolina health centers are provided to patients traveling from out of state.
• Anyone who believes they may be pregnant and needs abortion care can find the provider closest to them by visiting www.abortionfinder.org. Appointments at PPSAT’s health centers made via http://www.ppsat.org or by calling 1-800-230-7526.