WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — On May 1, 2024 the Florida 15-week abortion law turned into a six-week abortion ban.
In November, Amendment 4 was rejected by Florida voters as it did not receive 60% approval to overturn the current six week ban.
WPTV reporter Brooke Chau has been closely following the impact and giving a voice to all sides of Amendment 4.
WATCH: One year later, how is the six-week abortion ban impacting South Florida?
Every Wednesday a group of sidewalk advocates on the Treasure Coast, like Jim Thoma, meet across the street from Planned Parenthood in Port St. Lucie.
“We are not here to protest. We’re here to try to give women information on their health and help them make a healthy choice that will be healthy for them not only physically, but mentally and spiritually," Thoma said.
After the abortion ban took effect, Planned Parenthood reorganized its abortion services in the area to one location, now only available in West Palm Beach.
“There are a lot of discussions I have with people about how unfair it is that they have to make this decision within the next few days," Dr. Cherise Felix at Planned Parenthood said.
According to Planned Parenthood, the West Palm Beach location had over 75,000 patients seeking general care in 2024, 5,000 more than it saw in 2023.
1,500 of those patients were sent out of state to seek abortion care services after the six-week mark. Statewide, that number is well over 3,000 patients, according to Planned Parenthood.
Felix also says that throughout the past year, Planned Parenthood in West Palm Beach has seen an increase in the number of patients coming in seeking long-term contraceptives.
“We haven’t slowed down, we've refocused," Felix said. "The patients are still coming in. I don’t see us having less patients in a year from now.”
Although 365 days have now passed, the advocacy inside and outside of Planned Parenthood locations remains the same.
"We believe that all life from conception to natural death is sacred," Thoma said.
