According to a recent report, dozens of facilities around the country have ceased offering abortions since the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade in June.
In the 100 days since the June 24 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which erased the constitutional right to an abortion, 66 clinics in 15 states have ceased providing abortions, according to an analysis.
The facilities are located in Georgia and Wisconsin in addition to the 13 states that have imposed near-total abortion bans since the Dobbs verdict.
Clinics in Wisconsin have ceased abortions due to uncertainty on the legality of an 1849 ban, causing them to fear future prosecution if they continue to administer the procedure.
In addition, thirteen clinics in Georgia continue to provide abortions, but only through the sixth week of pregnancy.
These fifteen states are home to 30 percent of the nation’s women of childbearing age (ages 15 to 49), or 22 million women of childbearing age.
According to the findings, approximately one-third of the female population must travel to adjacent states to seek abortion services, often traversing multiple states in costly, laborious, and upsetting excursions.
In the one hundred days since the Supreme Court overturned the Rode v. Wade case that constitutionally protected abortions, 66 facilities in 15 states have ceased providing abortion services, according to a new study.
These fifteen states are home to 30 percent of the nation’s women of childbearing age (ages 15 to 49), or 22 million women of childbearing age. Pictured: On September 13, pro-choice demonstrators protested outside the Susan B. Anthony Pro-life Gala.
According to the findings, approximately one-third of the female population must travel to adjacent states to seek abortion services, often traversing multiple states in costly, laborious, and upsetting excursions. On September 15, abortion rights activists gathered outside the Monroe County Courthouse for a protest vigil.
The reduction in supplies has understandably increased pressure on the facilities that have continued to offer abortions despite the Dobbs decision.
In their analysis, the Guttmacher Institute, a leading research and policy organization dedicated to advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights globally, stated that the loss of clinics is felt in all states, including those where abortion remains legal.
‘The new reality of clinics no longer offering abortions or closing down totally is having a catastrophic effect on states with abortion restrictions — and well beyond,’ as a large number of individuals from states with abortion bans go to other states for abortion operations.
Thirteen states have outlawed abortion.
Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, and West Virginia.
Meanwhile, Wisconsin has suspended abortions pending clarification of their legislation.
And because Georgia only permits abortions prior to the seventh week of pregnancy, women have very little time to get care after discovering their pregnancy.
Dr. Colleen McNicholas, chief medical officer for the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, stated that one Planned Parenthood clinic in southern Illinois, which has not adopted an abortion ban, has seen an uptick in demand since the Supreme Court verdict.
The company intends to operate a mobile clinic in Illinois in an effort to fulfill rising demand.
She stated, “People are traveling from all over the country to receive this service.”
The Illinois clinic had a 435 percent rise in patients from outside Illinois and Missouri between June and September, causing a two or three day wait to become up to three weeks despite the clinic’s implementation of 10-hour, six-day workweeks.
With the majority of abortion-prohibiting states located in the south, many women in need of an abortion will have to travel longer and more expensive distances to states where abortion remains legal, according to Rachel Jones, the principal research scientist at Guttmacher and lead author of the analysis.
When looking at a state such as Louisiana, you are not simply passing into the next state. You must travel via different states. She stated that because these bans are concentrated in specific regions of the country, they have a tremendous effect.
Twenty-six of the 66 clinics have closed outright, leaving local communities with fewer health care alternatives, frequently in low-income areas in some of the poorest states.
‘This implies that people in these communities will no longer have access to contraceptive care, STI (sexually transmitted infection) testing and treatment, and pregnancy care,’ she said, referring to the services offered by some of the closed institutions.
In the meanwhile, Joe Biden pledged to defend abortion rights against Republican efforts to curtail them.
During a Tuesday meeting of his reproductive task force at the White House, he declared, “We will not stand by and allow Republicans around the country to pursue radical policies that undermine access to fundamental health care.”
He was outraged with University of Idaho administrators over their new directive that students should not be supplied birth control due to Idaho’s near-total ban on abortions.
Joe Biden pledged to defend abortion rights and oppose Republican efforts to restrict them. Vice President Kamala Harris (Left) and President Joe Biden (Right) attend the second Task Force on Reproductive Healthcare Access meeting.
Biden asked, “What century are we living in?” What exactly are we doing? I accept everyone’s opinion on their personal decisions, but good Lord, we’re discussing contraception! It shouldn’t be so contentious.
100 days after the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade, the president criticized states that had restricted abortion rights and announced $6 million in assistance for healthcare services.
Biden, accompanied by Vice President Kamala Harris, announced new guidelines for universities from the Department of Education to protect students from pregnancy-based discrimination, as well as $6 million in new grants from the Department of Health and Human Services to protect access to reproductive healthcare services.
On October 2, it had been one hundred days since the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which returned abortion rights to the states.
According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, thirteen states have made abortion illegal since then, while eight states have passed laws protecting abortion rights.
Biden has used his executive pen in response to the court’s decision, but his administration has frequently underlined that the best way to secure abortion rights is for Congress to enact legislation.
In the Senate, which is evenly divided 50-50, there is not enough support for such a measure to pass the 60-vote threshold required for legislation to advance.