Abortion providers and campaigners say that many patients will fall through the cracks - that they will either be unable to travel hundreds of miles to an appointment or unable find one in already overcrowded clinics in Virginia, North Carolina and Illinois, which are now some of the nearest states where abortion is broadly available.

"There's nowhere that can absorb all of the patients that we see [in Florida], it's just not possible," said Amber Gavin, vice-president of advocacy at A Woman's Choice, an independent abortion clinic with a location in Jacksonville.

The new law has been welcomed by anti-abortion activists and leading state Republicans, who had lamented Florida becoming a hub for out-of-state patients.

"We don't want to be an abortion tourism destination," Republican Governor Ron DeSantis said last year. His office did not respond to the BBC's request for comment.

Mr DeSantis signed the six-week ban into law last April, but it was held up by legal challenges until last month, when a state supreme court ruling cleared the way for its enforcement.

Matt Staver, founder and chairman of the Florida-based anti-abortion group Liberty Counsel told the BBC that the state could now be "a sanctuary for life".

"This is a great day for protecting unborn children," he said.

Mr Staver emphasised that the six-week law also includes $30m (£24m) allocated each year to support pregnant women and new mothers, money that will go towards baby formula, car seats, adoption and parenting classes.

"Florida is putting its money where its mouth is and protecting mothers and their children," he said.

According to March of Dimes, a non-partisan maternal health non-profit, pregnant women in Florida "have a very high vulnerability" to poor outcomes, with nearly a quarter of all expectant mothers receiving "inadequate" prenatal care.