Marissa Parra is a national correspondent for NBC News based in Miami, Florida.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy took effect in Florida on Wednesday just after midnight. Before that, the state had been a refuge for abortion access in the South after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Florida banned abortions after 15 weeks in 2022, but the vast majority of its neighboring states had stricter restrictions, so more than 9,300 people traveled here last year for abortion care.
“First thing I said was ‘Will you help me and my family get a mortgage?’” she said. She added that she feels for the women in Florida who might now have to carry unwanted pregnancies or travel long distances to obtain abortions. “It’s just not right to tell a woman that there’s a certain amount of time that you have to have an abortion,” she said. “I wish I could give those women a hug and help them through it.” Anti-abortion-rights groups are celebrating the new law.
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