The Abortion Clinics Staying Open in Hostile States

By Andrea González-Ramírez
AUG. 19, 2022

Earlier this year, Katie Quinonez, the executive director of Women’s Health Center of West Virginia, had her eyes on a vacant lot next door. Purchasing the lot would allow the state’s only abortion clinic, located in the city of Charleston, to expand. Quinonez says the owner of the lot rejected the clinic’s offer, however, because the local West Virginians for Life chapter had been renting it, and the owner wanted to give the anti-abortion group until the end of the year to raise enough money to buy the property.

It was a frustrating reminder of the logistical challenges the clinic would face if it were ever to close and later attempt to reopen. The overturn of Roe v. Wade opened the door to an imminent ban on abortion in the Mountain State, making it crucial for Quinonez to plan the clinic’s next act.

Continued: https://www.thecut.com/2022/08/the-abortion-clinics-staying-open-in-ban-states.html

Long Drives, Costly Flights, And Wearying Waits: What Abortion Requires In The South

August 2, 2021
SARAH VARNEY

Just a quick walk through the parking lot of Choices-Memphis Center for Reproductive Health, in this legendary music mecca, speaks volumes about access to abortion in the American South. Parked alongside the polished SUVs and weathered sedans with Tennessee license plates are cars from Mississippi, Arkansas, Florida and, on many days, Alabama, Georgia and Texas.

Choices is one of two abortion clinics in the Memphis metro area, with a population of 1.3 million. While that might not seem like much for women seeking a commonplace medical procedure, it represents a wealth of access compared with Mississippi, which has just one abortion clinic for the entire state of 3 million people.

Continued: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/08/02/1022860226/long-drives-costly-flights-and-wearying-waits-what-abortion-requires-in-the-sout

USA – The Coronavirus Pandemic Is Forcing Abortion Providers to Make Impossible Decisions

The Coronavirus Pandemic Is Forcing Abortion Providers to Make Impossible Decisions

Molly Osberg
Mar 24, 2020

The Choices Memphis Center for Reproductive Health, a small clinic in Tennessee, had two doctors providing abortion care until a few days ago. The center, which draws patients from all over the region, sees anywhere between 20 and 40 patients a week, according to its assistant director Katy Leopard: They come from Mississippi, where there is only one clinic providing this kind of care, and from Arkansas, where abortions can be hard to come by, and sometimes from even as far as Kentucky.

In the United States, an estimated 11.3 million women live more than an hour’s drive from an abortion provider, and often doctors will split their time between clinics to provide more geographically comprehensive care. Last year, the Los Angeles Times shadowed a provider who performed 50 abortions in 60 hours when she “commuted” from California to Texas, a feat that now given a roiling pandemic and orders from state governments to “just stay home” seems difficult, if not impossible, to imagine. But clinic workers and reproductive health advocates are trying to manage, considering that even in moments of global crisis, unwanted pregnancies don’t stop.

Continued: https://jezebel.com/the-coronavirus-pandemic-is-forcing-abortion-providers-1842455205

USA – 3 Abortion Providers On Tailoring Their Services To Trans Patients

3 Abortion Providers On Tailoring Their Services To Trans Patients

By Jo Yurcaba
March 13, 2020

Abortion care is known as a "women's issue." The pro-choice movement uses slogans like "her body, her choice," and abortion clinics often have "women" in their names. Gendered language, however — paired with the widespread discrimination transgender people face in health care — means many trans and non-binary people avoid seeking care altogether.

No statistics are available on how many trans people receive abortions annually, but the number is thought to be relatively small. A 2018 study of 450 trans men and gender non-conforming individuals found that 6% experienced unplanned pregnancies. Of that group, 32% opted to terminate them.

Continued: https://www.bustle.com/p/3-abortion-providers-on-tailoring-their-services-to-trans-patients-22603193