INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, Fla. — Equal rights organizations across southeast Florida are raising concerns about the impact of Florida's six-week abortion ban and its potential effect on the health care of minority communities.
The law took effect Wednesday, and bans most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, before many women even know they are pregnant.
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Passionate protesters rallied across the state for and against the ban.
A representative with the Florida Immigrant Coalition told WPTV they feared there's a group of women whose voices may not be heard, and may be impacted the most.
"The ban does have disparate impacts on women who are undocumented," Adriana Rivera with the Florida Immigrant Coalition said.
Rivera said she fears women who are undocumented immigrants may not have the option of going to another state to seek an abortion, like many women are expected to do.
This past July, Senate Bill 1718, signed by Gov. Ron Desantis, took effect and heightened penalties for transporting an undocumented person back into the state, labeling the action as human smuggling, at least a third-degree felony.
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"So if a woman who doesn’t have a regulated immigration status has the means to go outside of the state to get abortion care, on the return, whoever is traveling with her, could get hit with a human smuggling charge," Rivera said.
A 2021 Blue Cross Blue Shield analysis shows women in mostly Hispanic communities already have a 32% higher risk of severe complications.
Rivera fears the six-week ban would only increase that statistic for women seeking abortions due to high-risk pregnancies and complications.
"We've already seen it in Texas, women who are having these mortal, dangerous situations because of abortion bans," Rivera said.
It's a concern shared by Tony Brown, president of the NAACP of Indian River County for all women of color.
A 2022 CDC report on Health Equity shows Black women are three times as likely to die in childbirth as their white counterparts, and that same Blue Cross Blue Shield report puts Black women at a 63% higher risk of pregnancy complications.
"This is a woman thing. It's irrelevant about color even though African-American women are more hard hit by these crazy rules and regulations," Brown said. "It's a violation of their civil rights, human rights and every other kind of right. It would be disingenuous to make it anything other than an atrocity towards women.
Rivera also pointed out undocumented women are more likely to be victims of crimes, and feared there would be more undocumented immigrant women subject to rape who would not be able to get an abortion because of the ban.
The ban will remain the law of the land in November unless 60% of voters approve Amendment Four, which states: "No law should prohibit penalize, delay or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient's health, as determined by the patients healthcare provider."
Both organizations said they just hope folks hear out their concerns.
"We haven't taken an official stance yet," Rivera said. "But what we definitely want people to know is that there is a heightened risk."
"Get out and cast your vote, whichever way you want to," Brown added.
