18 Months After “Dobbs,” Here’s How Abortion Providers and Activists See Things

Abortion funds and logistical support groups are enabling people to travel out of state to obtain abortion care.

By Eleanor J. Bader , TRUTHOUT
December 28, 2023

After the Supreme Court’s June 2022 Dobbs decision eviscerated the already limited federal right to abortion, 14 states — Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia — banned the procedure.

In some of these states, clinics closed. According to The Guardian, 42 U.S. clinics shuttered in 2022, plus 23 more in 2023. But as disturbing as this is, it is not the full story. Despite financial, legal and political obstacles, many clinics in states that have banned abortion have pivoted, continuing to provide essential reproductive health services such as contraceptives, STI testing and treatment, and routine gynecological exams, with some expanding to deliver prenatal and gender-affirming care. In addition, new clinics have opened in states like Wyoming and Maryland where abortion remains legal.

Continued: https://truthout.org/articles/18-months-after-dobbs-heres-how-abortion-providers-and-activists-see-things/

This Alabama Health Clinic Is Under Threat. It Doesn’t Provide Abortions.

Former abortion clinics in red states are trying to pivot to other services after Dobbs. But they’re finding it’s not so easy.

By ALICE MIRANDA OLLSTEIN
05/29/2023

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Patients arriving for an appointment at the West Alabama Women’s Center one year ago would brave a gauntlet of chanting protesters, skirt an idling police car, take seats in a crowded waiting room and wait for one of the clinic’s dozen busy staff members to help them terminate a pregnancy. Over the clinic’s nearly 30-year history, visits also included the risk of being shot, bombed or rammed by a vehicle.

But when Abigail arrived on a Tuesday morning in April, nearly 11 months after the fall of Roe v. Wade, the parking lot was so quiet you could hear the clinic’s windchime tinkling faintly in the hot breeze.

Continued: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/05/29/alabama-abortion-clinic-problem-00096020

USA – These abortion clinics no longer provide abortions – but are still hanging on

Even in states with bans, a handful of abortion clinics are still open, providing ‘aftercare’ for patients who travel out of state or manage their own abortions

Rebecca Grant
Fri 5 May 2023

The patient on 9 March was a tricky case.

She was pregnant and seeking an abortion, but had previously had a cesarean section, which could create complications if the placenta embedded in her surgical scar. Houston Women’s Reproductive Services couldn’t perform the procedure because Texas had banned abortions, but the clinic could do an ultrasound and communicate with the provider in New Mexico, where the patient was heading for her appointment. Then, once the patient was back in Texas, the Houston clinic would provide any follow-up care and support she needed.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/05/abortion-clinics-open-states-with-bans

USA – What Nine Months Means to a Pregnant Person

BY ROBIN MARTY AND LEAH TORRES
MARCH 24, 2023

Right at this moment there is a person in labor preparing to give birth. They got pregnant exactly nine months ago. They may have been trying to conceive. They may have been hoping to avoid it.

But thanks to the five far-right conservatives on the Supreme Court – four of whom will never be capable of carrying a child – that person will face a life-threatening delivery whether they wanted it or not.

Continued: https://time.com/6265098/abortion-alabama-clinic-nine-months-after-dobbs/

24.03.2023

Leah Torres

Robin Marty

Tina Collins

West Alabama Women's Center

Abortion ‘desert’ in US south is hurting Black women the most

Ten million Black women in the US face high barriers to abortion access, that will be difficult to overcome for many.

By Taylor Johnson and Kelsey Butler
23 Aug 2022

In the weeks since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, an abortion desert has ballooned in the US South, where bans are hitting Black women hardest.

Across the country Black patients have an abortion rate roughly four times that of their White peers, in part due to lower use of contraception that leads to higher rates of unintended pregnancies. In the states that have moved quickly to enact restrictions, Black women make up a far larger proportion of abortion seekers than in places where abortion remains legal.

Continued: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/23/abortion-desert-in-us-south-is-hurting-black-women-the-most

An Alabama Clinic Reinvents Itself for a Post-Roe World

BY ROBIN MARTY
PHOTOGRAPHS BY LUCY GARRETT FOR TIME
JULY 28, 2022

On the morning the Supreme Court announced that it had overturned Roe v. Wade, we had 21 patients in our lobby waiting to have an abortion. We cried as we were forced to turn them all away. They cried as they realized the very same medical procedure that was legal only a few minutes earlier was no longer available to them. But the reality was that each of those people represented a potential felony for my staff—and up to 99 years in prison. Within hours of the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the injunction on a 2019 law was lifted and abortion became illegal in almost all instances in the state of Alabama.

Continued; https://time.com/6200914/alabama-clinic-after-roe-v-wade/

What clinics in southern states where abortion is banned are doing now

Abortion is now largely banned across the South.

By Kyla Guilfoil and Alexandra Svokos
July 11, 2022

Two weeks after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the South has become covered with abortion bans. Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama and Texas -- along with Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and South Dakota -- all now have near-total bans on abortion in effect.

The clinics that had been working there spent years navigating previous restrictions and fighting off state laws.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/clinics-southern-states-abortion-banned-now/story?id=86299844

11.07.2022

Featured

News

Amy Hagstrom Miller

Hope Medical Group for Women

Jackson Women’s Health Organization

Kathaleen Pittman

Michelle Lujan Grisham

Robin Marty

states where abortion is illegal

West Alabama Women's Center

USA – Looming abortion law changes are pushing clinics to take a look at digital privacy

Some clinic employees say they are embracing encrypted messaging apps and Zoom meetings to leave less of an electronic paper trail.

June 8, 2022
By Kevin Collier

With the Supreme Court poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that enshrined the constitutional right to abortion nearly 50 years ago, some abortion providers are rushing to take precautions to guard their communications and their patients’ data, fearing that the information could be used in future prosecutions.

Others are already a step ahead of them. Mia Raven, the director of policy at the West Alabama Women’s Center, said her clinic runs almost exclusively on paper. It’s a strategy she said is meant to ensure patient privacy.

Continued: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/abortion-clinics-providers-digital-privacy-roe-overturn-rcna30654

What might life look like in a post-Roe America?

June 4, 2022
Ailsa Chang, Michael Levitt, Mansee Khurana
(8-minute listen, with transcript)

Following the leaked Supreme Court decision that suggests Roe v. Wade will be overturned, many Americans of childbearing age are wondering what they can do now to prepare for that possibility. Of course, reproductive healthcare providers on the front lines of this debate have been thinking about this for quite some time.

Robin Marty is the operations director for the West Alabama Women's Center, and the author of Handbook for a Post-Roe America. Dr. Raegan McDonald-Mosely is a practicing OB-GYN and the CEO of Power to Decide, a sexual health and planning nonprofit. They both joined NPR's All Things Considered to provide some guidance on what reproductive healthcare might look like in the future, and how people can keep themselves informed and prepared if Roe v. Wade is overturned.

Continued: https://www.npr.org/2022/06/04/1103018467/roe-v-wade-overturned-leaked-decision-supreme-court-abortion

Planned Parenthood Has Quietly Stopped Providing Abortions in Georgia and Alabama

Independent clinics have been "deeply impacted" by the move in a region with already dwindling access to reproductive health care.

By Susan Rinkunas
Apr 28, 2022

Planned Parenthood quietly stopped scheduling abortions this month at its clinics in Georgia and Alabama and canceled some existing appointments, due to what it said were staffing issues at its Southeast affiliate. The organization said the change is temporary, but did not say when it would resume care. In the meantime, the clinics are referring people to other providers.

“We have elected to scale back some of our services across the affiliate while we onboard new staff at our health centers and at the executive level,” the spokesperson said in response to questions from Jezebel. “This is a temporary change, and we expect to again be operating at full capacity by the end of the month.” There are two days left in the month and it does not appear that abortions will resume in that time frame.

Continued: https://jezebel.com/planned-parenthood-has-quietly-stopped-providing-aborti-1848856363