By: Kristen C. Prewitt

Undocumented, 11-years-old, and raped by her mother’s boyfriend, she had never filed a record of the sexual assault. “Was she even raped?” administrators at the hospital where she sought an abortion had asked. According to Florida’s new abortion waiting-period statute, the answer would be “no.” The state recently passed a law requiring women to wait 24 hours after their initial appointment to have an abortion. There are exceptions for victims of rape, incest, and domestic abuse, but women have to provide documentation to support their claim, and most, like the 11-year-old girl, leave the crimes committed against them unreported.

As a medical student working in Florida-based clinics, I have seen how restrictions on abortion conspire with socioeconomic status to limit women’s access to the full spectrum of reproductive care. Over 16 percent of Floridians live below the poverty line, a rate higher than the national average. The new law threatens to exacerbate that problem, further burdening Florida women and limiting the state’s ability to train and support providers prepared to meet their needs.

Medical Students for Choice, though, is committed to challenging the new regulations. As a future abortion care provider and an advocate for reproductive rights, I am proud of MSFC’s decision to sign on as a plaintiff in litigation that aims to repeal this medically unnecessary law.

Florida Sen. Anitere Flores, one of the statute’s sponsors, has argued that women need “one day to reflect upon the risks of abortion, one day to view an image of the unborn child’s ultrasound image, and one day to consult with friends, family and faith [which is] minimal considering the effects that will remain for a lifetime beyond that irreversible decision.”

But in the precarious lives of many Florida women, one more day can become an undue burden. One more day means a higher cost for missed work, transportation, and (because most women who seek an abortion are already mothers) childcare. One more day means yet again walking past the shouts of protestors. One more day means another barrier to a woman’s ability to make the right decision for herself and her family. And the only way for those women who have endured the pain of rape, incest, or domestic violence to avoid the burden of one more day is to meet the state’s demand that they give up their right to privacy.

I have spoken with many women who have chosen to have an abortion, and I know that not one of them made that decision casually or out of convenience. When they step into the clinic, they have already had more than one day to consider their options. They understand what it means to make that “irreversible decision.”

The new statute could make the wait for an initial appointment at a clinic even longer. For reasons without any basis in medical necessity, women will be forced to make two appointments, taking up valuable time that could be spent with other patients seeking all forms of reproductive care.

This logistical strain in clinics would also impact the training of future providers. Medical professionals will have fewer opportunities to learn how to perform abortion procedures. Many medical schools, like my own, have, in the face of anti-choice activism, eliminated formal training and observation on abortion procedures. Though abortion is a common practice that three out of ten women will seek out, medical students, like myself, have been forced to go outside of our educational institutions to gain any experience with it, a void that that MSFC strives to address. The time that students spend observing procedures in the clinical environment is essential, but that time will likely become more restricted as clinics are forced to comply with the waiting-period regulation, further limiting the already minimal education we receive.

As a future physician, I hope never to have to turn away a patient in need, like that 11-year-old girl. I also hope to be part of a well-trained and properly educated community of providers who are prepared to give women the care that they deserve. The only way to ensure that these goals become a reality is by supporting efforts like MSFC’s challenge to the new Florida statute, and thereby freeing women to receive the care they need when they need it.

Kristin C. Prewitt is president-elect of MSFC’s board. She is a third year medical student at the University of South Florida.