Florida doctor says 6-week abortion ban is ‘jeopardizing future of healthcare in Florida’

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ six-week abortion ban is not only putting pregnant women in danger in the Sunshine State but is also “jeopardizing all women’s health” across the state, according to a Florida doctor.

In April of this year, the Florida Supreme Court issued a ruling upholding Gov. Ron DeSantis 15-week abortion ban. This allowed a six-week ban to take effect on May 1st. At the same time, the state court also approved a proposed ballot amendment that would give voters the chance to enshrine abortion protections in the state constitution. 

Amendment 4 would amend the state constitution to “limit government interference with abortion,” and restore abortion access until fetal viability, which is usually about 24 weeks. Sixty percent of voters will have to vote “yes” to approve the abortion rights amendment and override the six-week ban. 

Floricua spoke with Dr. Mona V. Mangat, an internal medicine/pediatric specialist and Board Chair of the Committee to Protect Health Care in Saint Petersburg, Florida, who has been on the forefront of the movement led by medical doctors and OB-GYNs to pass Amendment 4 in November. 

Why do you, as a doctor, support Amendment 4?

As a physician, I understand that pregnancy and women’s health care and reproductive health is a very important part of a woman’s life. And that the decisions we make about our body and about our health are consequential and they need to be made with collaboration with our health care team that’s usually led by a physician. And I understand that there is never a scenario where a legislator is going to have the right answer or have a better reason to make decisions about a woman’s health care. 

What does the six-week ban mean for women across Florida? 

It’s going to place women – and many of them don’t even know they’re pregnant at six weeks – at risk. They are no longer going to have the freedom to make the health care decisions that they need to make with their doctors, and every pregnancy is very unique. There are so many factors that have to be taken into account [before] just putting an across-the-board ban with no opportunities for personalized care. That’s just going to lead to increased health care complications. 

What does that specifically mean?

Women are not going to be able to get the care that they need and they’re not going be able to get it in a timely fashion. You’ve already heard this story about Anya Cook, who had to deliver a stillborn fetus alone in a bathroom and almost died from that. These stories are not going to be rare. They’re going to be more common with this ban.

Can you tell us how a 6-week abortion ban could affect maternal mortality?

If a legislator is coming in and saying, ‘I’m sorry, this, you know, this medical intervention that your doctor thinks is necessary is not available in Florida,’ that’s clearly going to lead to worse health outcomes for pregnant women.

It’s also been suggested that a 6-week abortion ban could cause an OB-GYN shortage across the state. Do you see that happening?

I’ve heard that in speaking with colleagues, and the conversations around healthcare, especially reproductive health in Florida, are so dire. Why would a physician want to practice here? Why would a new graduate who’s on the cutting edge of medical care, why would they want to practice in a state like this? It’s really, really jeopardizing the future of healthcare in Florida. 

Can a doctor shortage affect other women as well, women who are not pregnant?

OB-GYNs and other physicians that practice women’s health care are not just delivering babies. They’re talking about reproductive health. They’re talking about family planning; they’re talking about other health care complications that come along with being a woman. And if we don’t have access to that kind of care and to physicians that have that sort of training, then yes, we are jeopardizing women’s health.

How do you, as a doctor, feel when you see someone that needs immediate health care, and because of policy, you have to turn them away?

It feels horrible. It just feels terrible working in an environment where you feel like everyone is doing all they can to make your job harder. All you want to do is do what’s right by your patient. To have legislators who have absolutely no medical knowledge, no training in any sort of health care issue, to have them trying to tell you what you can and cannot do, is demoralizing, it leads to more physician burnout. It’s just a terrible scenario in which to practice medicine.

RELATED: Florida doctor criticizes misleading financial impact statement on abortion rights ballot measure

How could Florida’s six-week abortion ban hurt women who actually do want to have babies?

I think that if you want to have a baby, that very often may require certain interventions. We have a lot of medical advancements that help women to become pregnant and to ensure that they’re in the best health when they become pregnant. And so, limiting access to care for that subset of women is likely going to lead to situations where women have a harder time completing or becoming pregnant or having a successful pregnancy.

What are the long-term impacts that you see years down the road if this six-week abortion ban continues?

I think we definitely have to think about women’s health and women’s health outcomes. The other is the impact it’s going to have on the physician and medical workforce in the state. And then you really have to think, is this just the start of more interference? What else are we not allowed to do? What are the ways our legislators are going to try to dictate what happens in the exam room? It’s just a bad precedent to allow politics into the exam room and into the relationship between a physician and their patient. Why does anyone think that legislators should have anything to do with this? They don’t have any training. There’s no reason why they should even insert themselves into this conversation. It’s absurd.

Is there anything you would like to add?

It’s just gotten out of hand and, you know, health care freedom is under attack in Florida. I support Amendment 4. I think Floridians will see through these nonsensical attempts to further restrict access to health care for women. It seems very promising that a large bipartisan group of Floridians really understood what this was about and I’m hoping that this will be able to cut across some of those traditional party lines and common sense will prevail.

Are you ready to vote? Make sure to check your voter registration status, see who’s on your ballot, and make a voting plan here.

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