The clock is ticking for Treasure Coast abortion clinic after six-week ban takes effect.

Gianna Montesano, Treasure Coast Newspapers

FORT PIERCE — After more than 30 years running an abortion clinic here, 67-year-old Candace Dye was ready to retire and pass her business on to her family members.

But when Florida's six-week abortion ban finally went into effect Wednesday, joining the growing number of states restricting abortion access, Dye found herself fired up.

For now, Dye plans to keep A Woman’s World Medical Center — the only abortion clinic on the Treasure Coast — open until at least January.

"We're still booking patients. We just have to hang on," said Dye. "I'm not ready to quit yet."

For now, she's cutting costs, starting a GoFundMe campaign and may even lay off two employees — her granddaughter and niece — all to keep the lights on

The clinic, which performs abortions Mondays and Saturdays, saw about 60 patients last weekend before Wednesday's six-week ban began, Dye said.

"My doors will be open as long as I can pay the bills," Dye said.

The clinic received national attention following the release of the 2010 Peabody award-winning documentary "12th and Delaware," named for the intersection where it's located. The film focuses on the conflicting missions of the abortion clinic and the pregnancy center directly across the street.

Why is there a six-week abortion ban?

A 15-week abortion ban was signed into law in 2022 but it did not go into effect until last month, after the state Supreme Court overruled a 34-year-old decision protecting a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy through a privacy provision in the state constitution.

The decision retroactively triggered the six-week abortion ban that was passed last year by the Legislature. That law — The Heartbeat Protection Act ― was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, with exceptions for abortions beyond six weeks.

Exceptions include cases of rape, incest or trafficking if a patient is less than 15 weeks pregnant; physicians agreeing an abortion is needed to save the mother's life; and if the fetus would be born with a fatal abnormality.

If the patient is a minor, a physician must report incidents of rape, incest or human trafficking to a central abuse hotline.

How many abortions have taken place in Florida this year?

More than 300 Treasure Coast residents have had abortions this year as of April 1, according to the state Agency for Health Care Administration. The agency gets its data by compiling total cases by patients' county of residence.:

  • Martin: 57

  • St. Lucie: 189

  • Indian River: 74

In Florida, there have been 14,735 abortions performed this year.

Coming to Florida has been an option for people in the southeastern U.S. to get abortions when the 15-week ban was in place. Since the beginning of 2024 through April 1, 1,316 out-of-state patients have come to Florida for abortions, according to state data.

However, Dye's clinic and Planned Parenthood have begun sending patients out-of-state for abortion care.

Planned Parenthood, on Hillmoor Drive in Port St. Lucie, previously offered the abortion pill — mifepristone and misoprostol — for patients less than 11 weeks pregnant, TCPalm reported in April 2023. Now, patients seeking treatment at the Port St. Lucie location are met with the following message on its website:

"Starting May 1, 2024, a new Florida law will mean you can't get an abortion if you're more than 6 weeks pregnant. You can always book an appointment at an out-of-state Planned Parenthood health center, or find more options on abortionfinder.org."

Abortion on the 2024 ballot

The Florida Supreme Court ruled 4-3 to allow Florida Amendment 4, the Right to Abortion Initiative, on the November election ballot. Voters will decide whether to make abortion a constitutional right before fetal viability, about 24 weeks.

"Every woman in the state needs to vote. If you're not registered to vote, get registered and vote yes on Amendment 4," Dye said. "So we can have access to legal abortions at least up to 24 weeks in our constitution."

Gianna Montesano is TCPalm’s trending reporter. You can contact her at gianna.montesano@tcpalm.com, 772-409-1429, or follow her on X (formerly Twitter) @gonthescene.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: How Florida's six-week abortion ban is impacting abortion clinics

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