Wednesday was a pivotal day for women’s abortion rights in Florida.
The Heartbeat Protection Act is officially in place, banning abortions at six weeks, which is before many women know they are pregnant.
There are some exceptions for rape, incest and human trafficking, as well as fatal fetal abnormalities or to save the mother’s life.
The abortion debate really takes center stage at South 12th Street and Delaware Avenue in Fort Pierce. On one side of the street is the Birthline/Lifeline women’s counseling center and on the other side is the Woman’s World Medical Center where they perform abortions.
Candace Dye has been running the Woman’s World Medical Center for more than 30 years. She had strong words for the six-week abortion ban.
“That’s a crime right there to me. I don’t understand how they want to regulate women’s bodies,” Dye said. “I’ll never understand it. I’ve never had an abortion, but I hate to be told what to do. I’ve never cared if anyone else has had one or not. “It’s none or my business.”
She said her phone had been ringing off the hook the past few weeks in anticipation of Wednesday’s change.
She expects they’ll perform about 25% of the abortions they were doing previously with the new law in place, and hopes it’s enough to keep the doors open for women in need.
“I haven’t cried yet because I’m not ready to give up,” Dye said. “We’re in a terrible time right now for women. They can try to keep abortion from women, but they are going to do it anyway. They’ll get crazy medicine off the internet.”
“So for you, what does this six-week abortion ban mean?” WPTV reporter Stephanie Susskind asked Dye. “Patients are cut off at the knees before they even get started to think about an abortion, and that’s what this is for because most girls don’t know they are pregnant until about six weeks.”
Just outside her center, you can often find several people holding signs against abortion and supporting the Birthline/Lifeline Center across the street. WPTV tried to speak to someone at the center, but they did not want to comment.
Trevor Raborn, the pastor at Morning Star Church in Vero Beach, walks along that street several days of the week.
“I feel that us being out here is to tell these moms that you are going to love this child,” Raborn said.
He would like to see an outright abortion ban but said this is a start.
“For me, it feels like there is going to be less death, there’s going to be more children that get a chance for hope and a future,” Raborn said.