Many Florida women can't get abortions past 6 weeks. Where else can they go?

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — When Florida enacted its six-week abortion ban last week, clinics in several other Southern and mid-Atlantic states sprang into action, knowing women would look to them for services no longer available where they live.

Health care providers in North Carolina, three states to the north, are rushing to expand availability and decrease wait times.

“We are already seeing appointments,” said Katherine Farris, chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic. “We have appointments on the books with patients who were unable to get in, in the last days of April in Florida.”

Their reaction is part of a growing trend in the United States: Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, spurring more than 20 states to adopt laws banning or severely limiting abortions, states with looser restrictions have taken steps to welcome women who want or need to end their pregnancies.

Since the court overturned Roe in June 2022, some Democratic-controlled states have made it easier for out-of-state women to obtain abortions. Several have adopted laws protecting in-state health care workers from being investigated for providing abortion to women from states with bans. Such measures have included allowing providers to prescribe abortion pills, the most common abortion method, via telehealth.

Officials in California, New Mexico, Oregon and other states have used taxpayer money to increase abortion access.

Florida recorded more than 84,000 abortions in 2023, a slight increase from 2022. As of April 1, the state reported approximately 14,700 abortions this year, potentially leaving a substantial number of women to consider going out of state.

“Patients will travel when they’re desperate to get an abortion,” said Mara Buchbinder, a social medicine professor at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “We know that.”

At one point, Florida was a go-to state for women from other Southeastern states with restrictions, including neighboring Georgia and South Carolina, which both ban abortions around six weeks of gestation, before many women even know they are pregnant.

Last year, about 7,700 abortions in Florida were for out-of-state patients, according to state data.

But the state has steadily narrowed access. In anticipation of Roe being reversed, the Legislature passed a 15-week ban in April 2022 that took effect despite a court challenge. In 2023, it passed a six-week abortion ban that would take effect only if the earlier ban held up in court. The state Supreme Court upheld the ban last month, and the new law quickly went into effect.

A referendum in November asking voters to codify abortion rights in Florida’s constitution could reverse the ban. But at least until then, Florida abortion advocacy groups will still need to organize many out-of-state trips.

For women who are more than six weeks pregnant, South Florida is now the farthest from a legal provider of any highly populated area in the U.S. Subsequently, the average cost per abortion is expected to jump from $600 or $700 to as much as $1,800 or more, said Daniela Martins, a board member and caseworker team leader at the Women’s Emergency Network, a nonprofit organization that helps people in the region pay for abortion and other reproductive health care.

Martins said her group anticipates helping women get to Virginia and places even farther north, such as Maryland and Washington, D.C. She said it is committed to not turning away clients in need, though raising enough money to honor that commitment could be challenging.

“We’ve seen a lot of outpouring of support,” she said. “It’s nowhere near what we project we’ll need.”

Another group, The Brigid Alliance, which provides travel and support across the country for women seeking abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, is preparing for more needs in the coming months.

Serra Sippel, the group’s interim executive director, said the alliance is adding six new logistical coordinators, including four who speak Spanish, and is partnering with a clinic in Puerto Rico, an option particularly for Spanish-speaking people.

One of the largest patient influxes is anticipated in North Carolina, where, even before Florida's ban, 32% of abortions provided at the state's Planned Parenthood clinics were for out-of-state patients, Farris said.

But while it might be the most convenient place for Florida women given its geographical proximity, North Carolina is not without its own set of hurdles. The state’s 2023 law allows for abortions through 12 weeks of pregnancy, but requires two in-person visits to a provider 72 hours apart.

Those extra steps can turn a single-day procedure into a weeklong affair, said Justine Orlovsky-Schnitzler, engagement director for Carolina Abortion Fund, a nonprofit in North Carolina and South Carolina that operates a helpline to assist callers with abortion care.

Providers in North Carolina also fear the arrival of new patients will lengthen the wait time for an abortion, currently five to 20 days. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, which serves North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia, is trying to avoid that by rolling out seven additional days of abortion services and adjusting providers' schedules at North Carolina clinics to expand availability, Farris said.

“We are all willing to do the work,” she said. “Operationally, it is incredibly challenging, and I think it's important to remember that this is a chaotic system.”

Farris, who provides abortions in North Carolina, has to turn away patients who don't qualify under the state's law because they are more than 12 weeks along. She initially refers them to Virginia, which allows abortions until 24 weeks. If there are no appointments available, women can travel to Maryland, Washington or places farther north.

Carolina Abortion Fund has six staff members and a volunteer network, but working there could often feel like having two full-time jobs even before Florida’s ban, Orlovsky-Schnitzler said.

Volunteers have sometimes stayed up until midnight to help someone coordinate an emergency abortion, and there have been months in which the organization has received as many as 1,000 calls, she said. After Roe was overturned, calls rose by 400%.

“That’s not an exaggeration,” she said.

The center received 650 calls in April alone, according to data it provided.

The organization often runs out of money, but Orlovsky-Schnitzler said that doesn’t stop workers from answering every call to get people the help they're seeking.

Staff at A Preferred Women’s Health Center in North Carolina, with clinics in Charlotte and Raleigh, are fielding about 4,000 calls weekly, most from women in Southern states, Executive Director Calla Hales said.

Since Roe was overturned, about 70% of the clinics’ approximately 13,000 abortions each year have been with out-of-state patients, she said.

The center also operates two clinics in Georgia under the state's six-week ban. The clinics' operations there may give a preview of what’s to come in Florida, Hales said.

“As soon as they pee on a pregnancy stick, they’re running in,” she said.

Associated Press writer Amanda Seitz in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

The Planned Parenthood Health Center located in Chapel Hill, N.C., is seen, Friday, May 3, 2024. The location provides abortion services, in addition to birth control and STD testing, according to its website. (AP Photo/Makiya Seminera)

FILE - Planned Parenthood Votes South Atlantic organizer, Emma Horst-Martz, discusses the groups' canvassing goal of knocking at one million doors during a press conference at Bicentennial Plaza in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, April 25, 2024. North Carolina abortion service providers prepare for a potential influx of people from Florida after the state's six-week abortion ban was enacted Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Makiya Seminera, File)

FILE - Protesters on both sides of the issue hold signs as North Carolina House members debate, Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in Raleigh, N.C. North Carolina abortion service providers prepare for a potential influx of people from Florida after the state's six-week abortion ban was enacted Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Chris Seward, File)

FILE - Abortion rights protesters are removed after becoming vocal, Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in Raleigh, N.C. North Carolina abortion service providers prepare for a potential influx of people from Florida after the state's six-week abortion ban was enacted Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Chris Seward, File)

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A 20-minute drive separates the historic Maracana Stadium from the Complexo do Alemao, one of Rio de Janeiro's most impoverished and violent favelas.

One of its residents, 15-year-old soccer player Kaylane Alves dos Santos, hopes her powerful shots and impressive dribbles will allow her to cover that short distance from slum to stadium in three years to play for Brazil's national team in the final of the 2027 Women's World Cup.

That chance, once remote, became more realistic on Friday when FIFA members voted to make Brazil the first Latin American country to host the Women's World Cup.

Local organizers have suggested that both the opening match and the final are likely to be played at the 78,000-seat Maracana Stadium that staged the final matches of the 1950 and the 2014 men's soccer World Cups.

Teenager dos Santos knows the hurdles for her to ever play for Brazil remain enormous — in 2027 or later. She doesn't have a professional club to play for, she only trains twice a week, and her nutrition is not the best due to limited food choices in the favela.

Most importantly, she often can't leave home to play when police and drug dealers shoot at each other in Complexo do Alemao.

Still, she is excited and hopeful about Brazil hosting the Women's World Cup, resulting in a big boost to her confidence.

“We have a dream (of playing for Brazil in the Women’s World Cup), and if we have that chance it will be the best thing in the world,” dos Santos told The Associated Press this week after a training session in the Complexo do Alemao.

She and about 70 other young women in the Bola de Ouro project train on an artificial grass pitch in a safe region of the 3-square kilometers long (1.15 square mile) community.

If not on the pitch, Dos Santos and her teammates will be happy enough just to attend games of a tournament they could only dream of watching up close until FIFA members voted for Brazil over the Germany-Netherlands-Belgium joint bid. The Women's World Cup was played for the first time in 1991 and will have its 10th edition in 2027.

A five-time champion in men's soccer, more than any other country, Brazil has yet to win its first Women's World Cup trophy. By then, it is unlikely superstar Marta, aged 38, will be in the roster. Dos Santos and thousands of young female footballers who have overcome sexism to take up the sport are keen to get inspiration from the six-time FIFA player of the year award winner and write their own history on home soil.

As many female footballers experience in Brazil, dos Santos and her teenage teammates rarely play without boys on their teams. Until recently, they also had to share the pitch with five-year-old girls, which didn't allow the older players to train as hard as they would like.

“(The Women's World Cup in Brazil) makes us focus even more in trying to get better. We need to be able to play in this,” said 16-year-old Kamilly Alves dos Santos, Kaylane's sister and also a player on the team. “We need to keep training, sharing our things."

Their team, which has already faced academy sides of big local clubs like Botafogo, is trained by two city activists who once tried to become players themselves.

Diogo Chaves, 38, and Webert Machado, 37, work hard to get some of their players to the Women's World Cup in Brazil, but if that's not possible they will be happy by keeping them in school.

Their non-profit group is funded solely by donations.

“At first, basically, the children wanted to eat. But now we have all of this,” said Chaves, adding that the project began three years ago. “We believe they can get to the national team. But our biggest challenge is opportunity. There's little for children from here, not only for the girls.”

Machado said the two coaches “are not here to fool anyone” and do not believe all the young women they train will become professionals.

“What we want from them is for they to be honest people, we all need to have our character,” Machado said. “We want to play and make them become nurses, doctors, firefighters, some profession in the future."

The two dos Santos sisters, as do many of their teammates, believe that reaching the Women's World Cup as Complexo do Alemao residents is possible. Brazil has more than 100 professional women's soccer teams, with other players living in favelas, too.

But it won't be easy.

“Sometimes I have to cancel appointments because of shootings, because there’s barricades on fire,” she said. “Sometimes police tell us to go back home, they say we can’t come down and point their guns to me, to my mother,” said Kamilly.

Her sister hopes the pair will overcome the violence, against the odds.

“I want to earn my living in soccer, fulfill all dreams," Kaylane says. "And I want to leave the Complexo do Alemao. I want to make it happen.”

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

An overhead view of the pitch where young women take part in a soccer training session run by the Bola de Ouro social program at the Complexo da Alemao favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Agatha smiles during a soccer training session run by the Bola de Ouro social program, at the Complexo da Alemao favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, May 16, 2024. Young women are participating in soccer programs led by community trainers, where they receive both sports and personal development training. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Agatha strikes a ball during a soccer training session run by the Bola de Ouro social program, at the Complexo da Alemao favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, May 16, 2024. Young women are participating in soccer programs led by community trainers, where they receive both sports and personal development training. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Young women ready breakfast for fellow participants as part of a soccer training session run by the Bola de Ouro social program, at the Complexo da Alemao favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, May 16, 2024. Young women are participating in soccer programs led by community trainers, where they receive both sports and personal development training. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Relatives watch a soccer training session for young women run by the Bola de Ouro social program at the Complexo da Alemao favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, May 16, 2024. Young women are participating in soccer programs led by community trainers, where they receive both sports and personal development training. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Young women and their coach Dioguinho bring it in for a team huddle at the start of a soccer training session run by the Bola de Ouro social program, at the Complexo da Alemao favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, May 16, 2024. Young women are participating in soccer programs led by community trainers, where they receive both sports and personal development training. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)