One Florida abortion clinic confronts a new six-week ban with a last-minute push and long-term plans

On Tuesday afternoon, Mikenzie Buchanan scooped up an armful of clipboards piled behind the front desk at A Woman’s Choice, an abortion clinic here; it was almost too many to hold. On each clipboard, behind a blue cover to protect personal information, were documents and charts for patients who had visited the clinic to receive a medication abortion that day.

On Tuesday afternoon, Mikenzie Buchanan scooped up an armful of clipboards piled behind the front desk at A Woman’s Choice, an abortion clinic here; it was almost too many to hold. On each clipboard, behind a blue cover to protect personal information, were documents and charts for patients who had visited the clinic to receive a medication abortion that day. “Starting tomorrow, I will be making a lot less of these,” said Buchanan, who has been working at the front desk for a few months. Over the past couple of days, the Jacksonville clinic had been seeing two to four times as many patients as it typically would. But today, May 1, a significant shift in Florida’s abortion law takes effect, cutting the 15-week ban down to a six-week ban – a time before many women know they’re pregnant. The new restrictions will reverberate through the state and the broader region, as Florida has become a key abortion access point for the South in the years since the US Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision revoked the federal right to an abortion. Buchanan is often the first person people see when they arrive for their appointments. Some patients who come in aren’t familiar with the new six-week ban, but many are worried and stressed about “beating the clock,” she said. “I feel a sense of urgency, too. I don’t want to add any stress to it. But behind the scenes, we’re definitely making sure that they can be seen as quickly as possible and get where they need to go.” Candace, a Jacksonville resident and 36-year-old mother of two, learned about Florida’s six-week ban when she called A Woman’s Choice to make an appointment for an abortion. She was within that limit when she had her appointment on Tuesday but worries about what it means for the future, including for her teenage daughter.