FLORIDA — In Florida, abortion rates were consistently higher than the rest of the county between the years of 1991 and 2011, according to data presented by the Guttmacher Institute.
Abortion is a common experience and, at current rates, three in 10 women in the U.S. will have an abortion by the time they reach 45 years old, according to the data.
Data showed there were 6 million pregnancies in the U.S., 18 percent of which ended in abortion. Just under 350,000 women in Florida were pregnant, and 24 percent, or almost 85,000 women, ended their pregnancy in abortion.
Florida women produced a rate of 23.7 abortions per 1,000 women in 2011, the data showed. The institute said some women from Florida had abortions in other states and women from other states had abortions in Florida, so the rate may not reflect the rate of the state's women.
Abortions in Florida represent 8 percent of all abortions in the U.S., according to the data.
As of 2011, there were 88 abortion providers in Florida, 72 of which were clinics. Seventy-three percent of Florida counties do not have an abortion clinic, and 22 percent of the state's women live in those counties.
Here are several Florida restrictions on abortion as of December 2015, according to the institute:
- A woman must receive state-directed, in-person counseling and wait 24 hours before the procedure. Counseling must take place before the waiting period.
- Health plans under the Affordable Care Act only cover abortion in cases in which the woman's life is endangered or the pregnancy was a result of rape or incest, unless an optional rider is purchased at additional cost.
- In the case of a minor, a parent must be notified before the procedure.
- Public funding is available only in cases of life endangerment, rape or incest.
- A woman must receive an ultrasound before the procedure, and the provider must offer the patient the option to view the image.
Cox Media Group
