Report: Florida Physicians Say Abortion Restrictions Delayed Necessary Care
Florida’s six-week abortion ban, despite its medical exceptions, has led physicians and other health care providers to delay treatment for patients facing life-threatening complications, according to a report from the nonprofit Physicians for Human Rights. For the report, published on Tuesday, 25 OB-GYNs, abortion providers, genetic counselors, and other health care professionals recounted specific instances when they had to navigate the legal minefields in the state’s abortion law.
The Impact of Legal Penalties on Healthcare
The threat of being charged with a third-degree felony punishable with up to five years in prison, a $5,000 fine, and loss of their medical license looms over providers, who said they are afraid that performing an abortion could ruin their lives. “There is no other field of medicine where people are like, ‘Oh, sorry, I cannot do your colonoscopy or whatever, because I just cannot,'” said an OB-GYN interviewed for the report. Under these conditions, doctors feel they are turning people away for no real reason except to avoid going to jail.
| Consequence Type | Potential Penalty |
| Criminal Charge | Third-degree felony |
| Imprisonment | Up to five years in prison |
| Financial Penalty | $5,000 fine |
| Professional Impact | Loss of medical license |
How the Exceptions Work in Real Life
The state law restricting abortion outlines exceptions, but the health care providers in the report said those exceptions create grey areas, forcing them into lengthy discussions with hospital lawyers and administrators while patients’ health worsens. According to the current legal framework:
- Two doctors have to certify that the termination of the pregnancy is necessary to “save the pregnant woman’s life or avert a serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function.”
- A single physician can approve the procedure if no other doctor is available.
- Another exception allows abortions to the third trimester if the fetus has a fatal abnormality, which medical professionals also have struggled to define.
Documented Cases of Delayed Care
The report includes specific evidence that attempts to apply abortion exceptions leads to preventable suffering. An OB-GYN interviewed for the report described a patient with stage four cancer who had to travel four hours by car to get an abortion because she was 21 weeks pregnant. “It took over a week for her to be able to get the procedure,” the OB-GYN told the researchers. In another instance, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist had a patient whose fetus had Edwards Syndrome. The patient couldn’t secure an abortion in Florida because a pediatric cardiologist couldn’t conclude that the condition constituted a lethal heart defect. Two months later, the baby died in utero.
The Unworkable Legal Landscape
The report concludes: “Florida’s extreme abortion ban has created an unworkable legal landscape that endangers both patients and clinicians. The ban violates individual reproductive freedom, leads to preventable suffering, and compels clinicians to deviate from established standards of care and medical ethics.”