TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — When Bonnie Patterson-James of Lakeland found out she was pregnant at 17, she knew she wasn't ready to be a mother.
"There was no way I had time for a baby at 17," Patterson-James said. "It would have ruined my life, and with my depression, I would have succeeded in killing myself."
She said she also knew she couldn't go to her parents with her decision to get an abortion.
"They would have forced me to go to term with that baby regardless of how my childhood was, what my dreams were, what my beliefs were," Patterson-James said. "It wasn't on par with theirs and they would not have supported my choice."
For weeks, Patterson-James has been in Tallahassee, protesting the Florida six-week ban.
Now that Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed it into law, she said she is disappointed in the impact it could make.
"I feel sick to my stomach," Patterson-James said. "I feel like I've let my daughter down. I feel like I've let my younger sisters down."
Under this six-week law, anyone under 18 years old needs parental permission to access an abortion or they need to petition a judge.
The judge would have to determine "by clear and convincing evidence" that the minor is "sufficiently mature" enough to choose an abortion.
Patterson-James fears teens in the position she was once in will turn to desperate measures.
"All you gotta do is read the tales of the Janes before us. Back alley abortion will still be here," Patterson-James said.
There are a lot of legal hurdles before the six-week ban goes into effect.
Right now, Florida's 15-week abortion ban is being challenged in the state's Supreme Court. The six-week ban can't go into effect until the current 15-week ban is found to be constitutional.
If the court finds it unconstitutional, the abortion limit in the state returns to 24 weeks.