OCOEE, Fla. – An Ocoee woman who grew up pre-Roe v. Wade worries about what the future holds now.

Gail Gardner is turning 75 next month. She remembers hearing stories about back alley abortions when she was a teenager.

“There was no clinics where they could go, there was none of that,” she said. “It makes it all a nightmare, and I just hate that.”

Gardner says she had an abortion a few years after Roe v. Wade, when she was getting ready to divorce her husband and her youngest child was a toddler.

“It was a lifesaver for me,” she said. “I’m not judging, I’m just not going to. I just want people to have options.”

Gardner says she’s not surprised by the Supreme Court’s decision following the leaked draft opinion a few weeks ago. If it weren’t for that, she wouldn’t have seen this coming.

“I don’t understand how we’ve got to this place, but I’ve watched it since the '60’s. I’ve watched everything move along through these years. But we didn’t think this would move like that," she said. 

Unless Congress acts, abortion rights will be determined by states going forward. 

Here in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a new abortion law back in April, banning most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, except in cases where it would save the mother’s life or prevent serious injury to them. There are no exceptions for cases of rape, incest or human trafficking.

Gardner, who was raped more than 30 years ago by a man dubbed "The Malibu Rapist," is worried what will happen is Florida makes its abortion ban stricter.

“I definitely want to make sure that women who are suffering already from a fight with mental illness of any kind, and then especially if they’ve been raped or sexually abused, that they have options and that they choose the right one that will help them over,” she said.

Gardner helped create Gail’s Law here in Florida, which created a law enforcement database to track rape kits.

Now, she’s hoping the younger generation will take action too following Friday’s decision: “Take up everything that they’re putting down and fight for their own rights, they’re deserving of it all.”