Democrats Say Florida’s 6-Week Abortion Ban Is A ‘Reality Check’ Ahead Of November

The Florida Supreme Court handed down two rulings on Monday with vastly different effects on abortion rights in the Sunshine State: One gave the go-ahead for a six-week abortion ban to take effect in less than a month, and the other approved a statewide vote in November on whether to enshrine abortion care in the Florida constitution.

The contrasting decisions have left Democrats energized by the ballot initiative win but also bracing for the effects of an abortion ban that will wipe out what little access is left in the Southeast.

“I want people to be excited, but they seem to be missing the fact that the six-week ban is about to be a horrific reality in Florida,” state Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book (D) told HuffPost on Tuesday. “More women will die, more women will suffer, and that is the reality that we have to live with.”

The six-week abortion ban is set to go into effect on May 1, and the vote on the abortion rights amendment won’t happen until Nov. 5. If the amendment passes, it won’t take effect until some time in January. That means the best-case scenario is around nine months of a six-week abortion ban in a state that has been a critical haven for abortion care in the Southeast, where nearly every state has enacted restrictions since the repeal of Roe v. Wade in June 2022.

“It’ll be a reality check for how dire the situation is in the Sunshine State,” Florida state Rep. Anna Eskamani (D), who worked at Planned Parenthood for six years before being elected to the Florida House, told HuffPost.

“A lot of everyday people don’t know what the status of abortion access is in the state until they need one,” she said. “One of the realities of a six-week abortion ban is that more people are going to hear about