Yahoo News Patients at Fla. Abortion Clinic Leave Supportive Messages for Each Other on Bathroom Wall
"All of the messages are empowering and focus on women supporting women and people being there to support each other," a Planned Parenthood supervisor said
Women are leaving messages of support for one another in a Florida abortion clinic as state laws have shifted reality for many.
Morgan Daniel, the health center supervisor at Planned Parenthood Jacksonville, spoke to Good Morning America on Friday, May 3, about the inspiring words that have now become a beacon of hope.
Related: Arizona Narrowly Repeals 1864 Abortion Ban After 2 GOP Senators Break with Party
"I couldn't tell you what the first message was," Daniel said. "That space is private, and nobody can see them writing those messages, so that's part of why it is important, to be able to have that outlet in private."
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An abortion rights activist, July 2022The messages began appearing ahead of Florida’s six-week abortion ban, which went into effect this week.
About a year ago, staff members at the clinic noticed the messages on the wall near the baby changing station in the bathroom.
As time went on, more and more patients joined in, leaving notes to uplift others going through similar situations.
"Traveled 5 hrs b/c of laws in my state," one wall message reads. "My body my choice. We matter."
According to Daniel, "All of the messages are empowering and focus on women supporting women and people being there to support each other.”
The health center supervisor continued, "The majority of the messages are saying encouraging words like, 'You've got this. You have people stand by you. You're safe. You're making the right decision for you and where you're at in your life.'"
Last month, the Florida Supreme Court upheld a 15-week abortion ban that was signed into law by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in April 2022. It was announced that the ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy would take effect on May 1.
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An abortion rights activist, July 2022“Florida’s bans – like those put forward by Republican elected officials across the country – are putting the health and lives of millions of women at risk,” President Joe Biden said in a statement issued by the White House on April 2.
“These extreme laws take away women’s freedom to make their own health care decisions and threaten physicians with jail time simply for providing the medical care that they were trained to provide,” the statement continued.
Related: Rape, Incest Victims Must Show Proof to Get Exception to Florida's New Abortion Ban
Biden, 81, added that he and Vice President Kamala Harris “stand with the vast majority of Americans who support a woman’s right to choose, including in Florida,” and called upon Americans to vote “in support of a reproductive freedom ballot initiative this November.”
Also speaking to GMA on Friday, Michelle Quesada, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of South, East, and North Florida, said, "The wall now is more important than ever.”
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"These are messages of real-life experiences, real moments where someone was within our health center to receive this care that they desperately needed and deserved, and now there are going to be many patients who come to us and see that and, unfortunately, they'll be beyond the gestational age to get the help they need in our center,” she added.
Daniel referred to the messages as “empowering.”
"It's important for the patients to be able to have some sort of uplift and to be able to see, again, that they're not alone,” she said.
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