Maryland abortion provider: ‘It’s like trying to run a clinic on a foundation of quicksand’

Partners in Abortion Care cofounder Morgan Nuzzo reflects on the clinic’s first year, one marked by the absence of federal abortion rights

BY: SOFIA RESNICK
DECEMBER 21, 2023

Morgan Nuzzo, an advanced practice clinician nurse-midwife, started Partners in Abortion Care in Maryland about a year ago with Dr. Diane Horvath, an OB-GYN who specializes in complex family planning. The clinic is among the few in the country that provides abortions in the third trimester of pregnancy. Abortions that late in pregnancy are rare and often sought because of health risks to the pregnant person or because of a fatal fetal diagnosis.

In June, Nuzzo and other abortion providers and reproductive health experts told States Newsroom that, with the end of Roe v. Wade, they had begun to see a rise in later abortions in the U.S. because of diminished access and increased wait times and costs. But surprisingly, Nuzzo said that in the last few months her clinic has seen a drop-off in patients seeking later abortions, something she suspects could be due to patients not being aware or informed of other options when they can’t access abortion in other states, or because they’re unable to travel.

Continued; https://sourcenm.com/2023/12/21/its-like-trying-to-run-a-clinic-on-a-foundation-of-quicksand-maryland-abortion-provider-says/

21.12.2023

Commentary

Dr. Diane Horvath

Morgan Nuzzo

Partners in Abortion Care

Are Blue States Ready To Relax Their Bans On Later Abortions?

By Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux
JAN. 30, 2023

You hear people say the term “third rail” all the time in politics, usually in reference to an issue that is too volatile — too charged — to touch. For decades, abortion later in pregnancy has been one of those issues. As recently as four years ago, a proposal to loosen restrictions on third-trimester abortions went down in flames in Virginia after Republicans accused Democratic lawmakers of advocating for infanticide — an attack that was misleading but effective.

But the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade, has changed the current running through the abortion debate. And now Democratic legislators may have new opportunities to try and expand abortion rights — including abortions in the late second and early third trimester of pregnancy.

Continued: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/are-blue-states-ready-to-relax-their-bans-on-later-abortions/

Abortion providers are trying to open new clinics as close as possible to states with bans

Providers hope the new clinics can help serve the surge of patients now expected to travel for abortions.

Shefali Luthra, Health Reporter
July 11, 2022

Whole Woman’s Health announced plans to close its four Texas abortion clinics and open one in neighboring New Mexico.

CHOICES, based in Memphis, Tennessee, is opening a clinic in Carbondale, Illinois, the closest state expected to protect abortion rights.

https://19thnews.org/2022/07/abortion-providers-new-clinics-borders-states-bans/

USA – What It’s Like To Open An Abortion Clinic Right Now

By Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux
JUN. 16, 2022

Late last year, Dr. Diane Horvath and Morgan
Nuzzo decided they wanted to take the plunge and start their own business. They
looked for funding from traditional and not-so-traditional sources, figured out
creative ways to cut costs and hired lawyers to help them navigate the world of
business leases, bank loans and incorporation documents.

It’s a journey familiar to entrepreneurs all over the country — but unlike
Horvath and Nuzzo, those entrepreneurs aren’t opening an all-trimester abortion
clinic.

This is the first entry in a series tracking what it’s like to open an
all-trimester abortion clinic in the U.S. as abortion rights are being
curtailed.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/what-its-like-to-open-an-abortion-clinic-right-now/

16.06.2022

Partners in Abortion Care

USA – Limits on early abortion drive more women to get them later

Barbara Ortutay, The Associated Press
June 1, 2022

An 18-year-old was undergoing treatment for an eating disorder when she learned she was pregnant, already in the second trimester. A mom of two found out at 20 weeks that her much-wanted baby had no kidneys or bladder. A young woman was raped and couldn't fathom continuing a pregnancy.

Abortions later in pregnancy are relatively rare, even more so now with the availability of medications to terminate early pregnancies.

Continued: https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/limits-on-early-abortion-drive-more-women-to-get-them-later-1.5929083

A Guide to Caring for Yourself (Or Others) After an Abortion

Conversations about the aftermath of an abortion can center on harmful and false narratives. We're here to change that.

Feb 2, 2022
Caroline Reilly, Rewire News

Abortion is life-affirming health care that should be accessible for all, on demand and without restrictions. Part of supporting access to abortion care is making sure patients who seek them are fully informed about what having an abortion entails, including the aftercare.

I recently put out a call on Twitter to learn more about the experiences people had after their abortion. I heard from dozens of folks who said there were parts of the experience they felt unprepared for or surprised by—the pain, the bleeding, and all the other aspects associated with many medical procedures.

Continued: https://rewirenewsgroup.com/article/2022/02/02/a-guide-to-caring-for-yourself-or-others-after-an-abortion/

SCOTUS Issued a Blow to Abortion Pills by Mail, But Advocates Aren’t Giving Up

Reproductive justice activists are urging Biden to back access to abortion pills after a setback from the Supreme Court.

BY Amy Littlefield, Truthout
January 22, 2021

There has been a quiet revolution in access to abortion pills in the United States over the past six months — and whether it continues depends on the new Biden-Harris administration.

Last July, a federal court suspended a rule that requires patients to go to a health center in person to pick up mifepristone, the first pill in a two-step process for medication abortion. The court sided with SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, allowing providers to mail mifepristone during the COVID-19 pandemic. But on January 12, the Supreme Court reinstated the rules, leaving in doubt the future of a landscape which advocates like Elisa Wells, co-founder of the medication abortion advocacy group Plan C, had rapidly begun to put in place.

Continued: https://truthout.org/articles/scotus-issued-a-blow-to-abortion-pills-by-mail-but-advocates-arent-giving-up/

Abortion Providers Watching Capitol Violence Say They’ve ‘Seen This Rage Before’

From fire bombings, shootings, and ceaseless harassment, anti-abortion violence has wreaked havoc on clinics for decades.

Jan 8, 2021
Caroline Reilly

Trump supporters laid siege to our nation’s capital on Wednesday, storming past
a flaccid and enabling law enforcement presence in an attempt to stage a coup.
As they were filling the halls of Congress—stealing lecterns and paintings, and
taking selfies at Nancy’s Pelosi’s desk—pundits lamented: This is not America;
this is not who we are. Some even marveled at the cooperation from law
enforcement, wondering how security could have been so lax.

Unfortunately, abortion providers are all too familiar with the sort of
violence that played out at the Capitol.

Continued: https://rewirenewsgroup.com/article/2021/01/08/abortion-providers-watching-capitol-violence-say-theyve-seen-this-rage-before/

Trump abortion ‘gag rule’ leaves poor patients ‘with nowhere to go’ in US

Trump abortion ‘gag rule’ leaves poor patients ‘with nowhere to go’ in US
Impact will vary greatly from state to state after Planned Parenthood withdraws from federal funding program over abortion referral bans

Miranda Bryant
Thu 22 Aug 2019

Last year alone, 37,000 low-income patients in Utah received subsidized family planning under Title X, the federal program which distributes grants to clinics.

But as of Monday, when Planned Parenthood withdrew from the longstanding scheme over new Trump administration rule banning clinics from referring patients for abortions, the US non-profit’s Utah branch must now look elsewhere for the $2m annual grant it used to depend on to provide essential services like birth control, STD and breast and cervical cancer tests to poor women.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/22/planned-parenthood-trump-abortion-gag-rule-harms-patients

USA – Arson attempt, trespassing, and harassment: The consequences of extreme anti-abortion rhetoric

Arson attempt, trespassing, and harassment: The consequences of extreme anti-abortion rhetoric
"This kind of language is an invitation to that radical fringe."

Amanda Michelle Gomez
May 6, 2019

Someone tried to light Whole Woman’s Health of McAllen on fire April 8. The Texas abortion clinic, the only provider serving the Rio Grande Valley, where the average household income is just $37,000, has been around for decades. The clinic has proved resilient, outlasting Texas laws that shuttered other clinics like it.

The arsonist struck at night, after hours, when nobody was at the clinic, said Amy Hagstrom Miller, the founder and CEO of Whole Woman’s Health. A neighbor noticed the fire and immediately called 911, so the fire department was able to extinguish the flames before the clinic could be too badly damaged. The clinic remained open, but there was residual smoke damage, and the staff could still smell the accelerant used to burn the clinic’s fence.

continued: https://thinkprogress.org/arson-attempt-trespassing-and-harassment-the-consequences-of-extreme-anti-abortion-rhetoric/