Inside 2 South Florida abortion clinics: What happened after Supreme Court ruling

Alexa Lane unlocked the door of the Presidential Women’s Clinic in West Palm Beach on Friday as she does every weekday. Women quickly filled the waiting room, waiting for medical procedures — from sonograms to abortions.

On this morning, however, just an hour after opening, Lane spotted an alert on her cellphone and struggled to hold back tears: Roe v. Wade had been overturned, ending almost 50 years of federal abortion rights.

“I am a little bit in shock that we are even here,” said Lane, the clinic’s director. “When you don’t have this option as a woman, it can change your path.”

As the nation reacted to the Supreme Court’s ruling, patients and staff at some South Florida abortion clinics went about their day ensuring scheduled procedures continued. But at times, the gravity of the moment weighed on clinic workers and they vowed to turn their grief into an ongoing fight for abortion rights.

At the Presidential clinic, the implications of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling are complicated. With the federal law overturned, each state will now operate under its own abortion rules.

In Florida, that means abortions are still legal. Lane will need to prepare for additional pregnant women from states with more restrictive abortion laws coming to her center for care.

However, starting July 1, a new statewide abortion law is set to take effect, which bans most abortions after 15 weeks. Lane said her patients often struggle to save up money, get transportation and arrange child care for their existing families. By then, they are close to 15 weeks.

So Lane also will need to prepare to send women who fall under that criteria to a less restrictive state.

Ellen Benavides started a “fetal anomaly” program at the clinic years ago for women far along in their pregnancies who get a diagnosis of an unhealthy baby and choose to abort. Considering that the new law will soon take effect — and Friday’s Supreme Court decision could open the possibility of a more restrictive abortion law in the future — Benavides is now working to protect these patients.

“You always have to worry about what’s coming next in order to provide good patient care,” she said. “We are not just waiting to see what happens. We are proactively putting together a list of providers who are close to us in other states, so that those patients we get calls from starting Friday of next week, they have got a resource.”

For now, until July 1, the women who come to the Presidential clinic can legally get abortions up until 24 weeks (although it chooses to go to 23).

In states like Texas and Arkansas, clinics like the Presidential Women’s Center ceased operations in the immediate aftermath of the Supreme Court ruling. At least 13 states have so-called “trigger laws” that immediately outlawed abortion when Roe v. Wade got overturned. Florida does not have a trigger law.

In the Sunshine State, abortion rights are protected under Florida’s Constitution, which recognizes that the right of privacy protects abortion. However, in April, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law the 15-week abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest. The new law allows for abortions past 15 weeks only if there’s a fatal fetal abnormality or the mother’s life is at risk. In two separate cases, abortion providers and a Boynton Beach synagogue, Congregation L’Dor Va-Dor, have both sued in attempts to challenge the 15-week ban.

Benavides said the changes are creating confusion.

Some patients already are calling to ask whether they can still undergo an abortion. “There’s a lot of education going on right now,” she said.

Just miles away on Friday, at the Florida Mango Health Center in West Palm Beach, which is operated by Planned Parenthood, women — some accompanied by men — filled out paperwork, consulted with counselors and waited for procedures.

Laury Lopez, manager of the health center, immediately turned to her co-workers when news of the Supreme Court ruling appeared on an Instagram account.

“I started crying because I get very emotional about it,” she said, her eyes again growing watery as she recounted the moment. “It’s a sad day for America. It feels like we are going back instead of going forward. It’s affecting the rights of people, not just women. So yeah, it’s a sad day.”

But Lopez looked at her schedule, shuffled patient charts, and carried on with the 15 medication abortions, 10 consultations, and one surgical abortion planned for the day.

“We see a lot of people every day from different walks of life,” she said. “We have a team that basically facilitates communication with other affiliates who will make sure that we are providing assistance to people who need to travel from other states where they can’t get abortions.”

Lately, the clinic has been busier than usual. As of April, a new Florida law requires a 24-hour waiting period between a woman’s initial visit with a physician and the abortion procedure. That means each patient needs two appointments instead of one. With the 15-week ban just around the corner, staffers have also been busy adding hours and scheduling more women who are at risk of becoming too far along in their pregnancy by July 1.

After the Supreme Court ruling, as nurses prepared rooms for the day’s procedures, Lopez turned to a visitor and expressed her fears about what could be ahead.

“I don’t think the women necessarily know what’s going on,” she said. “I just hope it doesn’t scare people away and have them think that all of a sudden in Florida abortion is no longer legal.”

Lopez said the women and their stories motivate her, and that will continue: “I feel that I’m helping people every day. I feel like I’m making a real change in their lives.”

Laura Goodhue, executive director of the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, has spent years fighting for women’s reproductive rights in Florida. She learned of the news when she walked into the West Palm Beach clinic and saw staff members, including Lopez, crying.

“I have been telling my staff for weeks now — be prepared, it’s going to be a gut-punch no matter what — and it was,” she said. “It’s hard when you think of some of the people I have met who have shared their stories. The fact that there’s just this sweeping rule without taking into consideration the lives that are impacted is just heartbreaking.”

Goodhue said Planned Parenthood, which filed one of the lawsuits challenging the 15-week ban, will continue its legal fight in Florida, organize “pro-choice” residents to sign up to vote, raise funds to help women travel to get abortions, and fight the stigma associated with it. It will also work to prevent future legislation to expand pro-life protections.

“There is so much more work to do,” she said. “Right now, people are mad and upset. For our young people, it’s so important to them that they have this right and not be forced to give birth against their will.”

Sun Sentinel health reporter Cindy Goodman can be reached at cgoodman@sunsentinel.com.