WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A year after the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Fla., spoke Tuesday in West Palm Beach about the impact the decision has had on women in Florida and across the country.
The event was a round-table-style discussion with other members of Congress, doctors and advocates for reproductive rights.
Frankel said hundreds of abortion clinics have shut down following the court's decision. She added that travel times to the locations where someone can get an abortion have tripled.
She believes women should make the decision to start or not start a family — not the government.
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Frankel said the impact of the six-week abortion ban potentially going into effect in Florida would be catastrophic.
"There's going to be a lot of hardship, a lot of calamity, deaths," she said. "Doctors leaving this state, we're going to see a lot of bad things happening."
In the meantime, advocates like Planned Parenthood are pushing out a petition to reinstate Roe v. Wade-like terms in the Florida state constitution.
It's a long process though.
There are several steps the petition has to go through, starting with getting more than 800,000 signatures to make it to the state supreme court and start the process.
Still, advocates are hopeful it will make it on the ballot for voters to choose.
"The fight is there, myself and others, we're going to fight back, until women have the right and the freedom to make their own decision on whether and when to grow a family," Frankel said. "This should not be the decision of a governor."
Alongside Frankel, Dr. Melanie Bone, a board-certified OBGYN, voiced her concerns about the current climate surrounding reproductive healthcare.
For one, she's concerned the new law suggests doctors who perform abortions after the six-week ban can get fined up to $5,000 or face up to five years in prison. Bone has been practicing medicine for about 30 years.
During the round-table discussion, she mentioned the oath doctors have to take in medical school about protecting the patient above all.
Bone said what’s happening right now, goes against that oath.
She also says the six-week abortion ban is dangerous because "most women don't know they're pregnant by week six."