To appreciate just how aggressive the Florida Republicans’ abortion ban is, consider the fact that Donald Trump last year condemned the far-right policy as “a terrible thing.” As recently as last month, the former president — who has celebrated his role in destroying the popular Roe v. Wade precedent — said Florida’s six-week ban is so far from what people want, it’s “probably” going to have to change.

But it didn’t change. Last month, the Florida Supreme Court cleared the way for the GOP-imposed abortion ban to take effect on May 1. That, of course, is today.

The ban — which includes exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the woman — will likely have the effect of a full abortion ban because many women don’t even know they’re pregnant after six weeks.

As NBC News reported, the implementation of the policy will reverberate throughout the region.

[Florida has] been a refuge for abortion access in the South after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Florida banned abortions after 15 weeks in 2022, but the vast majority of its neighboring states had stricter restrictions, so more than 9,300 people traveled here last year for abortion care. That’s more than double the number in 2020, according to data from the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion access. Around 84,000 abortions were performed in Florida last year, about 1 in 12 nationwide.

“We don’t want to be an abortion tourism destination,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said last year.

Now, it won’t be.

As for the near future, a New York Times report added that all of the changes could prove temporary: “A ballot measure in November will ask Florida voters whether to amend the constitution to allow abortions until about 24 weeks. It will require more than 60 percent support to pass, a high threshold, and it would not take effect until January, assuming that lawmakers or anti-abortion groups did not challenge it in court.”

Watch this space.

This post updates our related earlier coverage.