Last year, abortions in the state saw a 15-year high. But things are now moving in the opposite direction as abortions in the state have dropped, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration.
In 2023, over 84,000 abortions took place in the state. As of July 1st of this year, there were only 36,221 abortion procedures. State officials say there could be a 14% reduction this year compared to 2023.
Pro-life groups point out the reductions can be contributed to Gov. Ron DeSantis and the GOP Legislature for approving a 15-week limit in 2022, followed by a 6-week abortion ban that was passed in 2023 that just went into effect on May 1st of this year.
The news is timely as Vote No On 4’ campaign (the abortion amendment) launched its multilingual campaign to defeat the amendment on the upcoming November ballot.
The group says the pro-choice community is trying to sell voters on Amendment 4 with “deceptive language.”
“Amendment 4 was deceptively written to allow abortions throughout the entire pregnancy, even when the baby can feel the pain of the procedure, and to make abortion the only medical procedure that can be performed on a minor without a parent’s consent,” said Vote No On 4 Florida President Dr. Mary J. O’Sullivan, Professor Emeritus of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Miami Medical School.
From Health News Florida (https://health.wusf.usf.edu/health-news-florida/2024-07-08/a-report-shows-a-reduced-number-of-abortions-in-florida) here are counties with the most abortions. The numbers reflect county residents who had abortions, not necessarily the counties where abortions took place.
Miami-Dade County: 7,382
Broward County: 4,687
Hillsborough County: 3,199
Out-of-state residents: 2,928
Palm Beach County: 2,367
Orange County: 2,220
Duval County: 1,705
Pinellas County: 1,412
Polk County: 1,059
Lee County: 878
Pasco County: 557
Leon County: 552
Brevard County: 535
Osceola County: 531
Volusia County: 517
Seminole County: 497
St. Lucie County: 437
Manatee County: 436
Alachua County: 400
Marion County: 380
Lake County: 377
Collier County: 351
Sarasota County: 313
Clay County: 206
Indian River County: 180
St. Johns County: 168
Bay County: 164
Escambia County: 159
Hernando County: 152
Martin County: 125
Charlotte County: 112
Okaloosa County: 106
Flagler County: 103
Author
