Three Years Post-Dobbs, Abortion Providers Experience High Levels of Violence & Disruption

April 23, 2025

NATIONAL—Today, the National Abortion Federation (NAF) released its Violence & Disruption report with data from 2023 and 2024. The report shows there has been sustained and consistent harassment and violence against abortion providers, even as clinics closed and abortion became harder to access in some regions.

This year’s interactive report compares the violence and disruption that NAF members reported in 2023 & 2024 to the total data NAF has tracked since 1977. The report features “heat maps” that demonstrate the states where providers reported experiencing the highest levels of obstruction, protesters, threats, and trespassing. Finally, the report includes an audio storyteller map where viewers can click through and hear directly from providers at clinics across the country about their experiences with violence and disruption.

Continued: https://prochoice.org/three-years-post-dobbs-abortion-providers-experience-high-levels-of-violence-disruption/


An Abortion Provider Debunks Trump’s Debate Talking Points

By Andrea González-Ramírez, the Cut
Sept 11, 2024

One of Donald Trump’s biggest weaknesses this presidential election is his anti-abortion stance, particularly the role he played (and routinely brags about) in the overturning of Roe v. Wade. During Tuesday’s presidential debate, he attempted to neutralize that weakness by painting Democrats as the extreme party when it comes to abortion rights, repeating falsehoods about patients seeking the procedure “in the ninth month” of pregnancy and having “post-birth abortions.”

This inflammatory rhetoric hinges on voters’ unfamiliarity with abortion care later in pregnancy. Despite what 67 percent of Americans think, only a small percentage of abortions occur after 21 weeks of gestation and they become even rarer further into pregnancy. Providers say these later terminations tend to be medically complex cases that are logistically and financially challenging for many patients.

Continued: https://www.thecut.com/article/trumps-abortion-debate-lies-debunked.html


The abortion activists who say bringing back Roe is not enough

Abortion rights groups split with mainstream movement over support for former legal framework of ‘viability’

Susan Rinkunas
Sun 21 Jan 2024

Since the devastating loss of Roe v Wade, the abortion rights movement has seen historic levels of support for its cause, particularly through major victories on state ballot initiatives, with more expected this November. But as advocates move to re-enshrine the right to abortion at the state level, a struggle has emerged over whether to reproduce Roe’s legal framework – or go further.

…A number of ballot campaigns slated for November seek to bring back that standard – but a group of advocates is banding together to declare that the broader movement is engaging in harmful compromises when it could instead use the momentum to push for “clean” policies that don’t draw a strict limit to abortion access.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/21/abortion-activists-future-roe-v-wade


USA – How abortion bans are undercutting efforts to prevent domestic violence

OB-GYNs are often the first or only doctors to learn if a patient is facing intimate partner violence. As they leave places with abortion bans, domestic violence victims are feeling the impacts.

By Jennifer Gerson, Shefali Luthra
November 13, 2023

As more abortion bans have gone into effect across the country, it has become far more difficult to perform a standard element of gynecological care: screening patients for domestic abuse.

Research shows that OB-GYNs are often the first or only doctors to learn if a patient is facing intimate partner violence. While women of all ages experience intimate partner violence, it is most prevalent among women of reproductive age, the people most likely to see an OB-GYN. Meanwhile, abortion bans have contributed to reproductive health care providers leaving states, retiring early or declining to practice where the procedure is restricted.

Continued: https://19thnews.org/2023/11/abortion-bans-hindering-domestic-violence-screenings-prevention/


What This Later-Abortion Story Tells Us About a Post-Roe Future

The number of people seeking later abortions is undoubtedly about to increase, and our medical system is unprepared to care for them.

By Garnet Henderson, The Nation
May 28, 2022

In October of 2021, Kristyn Smith checked herself out of the hospital in Charleston, W.Va., where she had been denied an abortion. Bleeding and in pain, Smith drove for six hours with her fiancé to Washington, D.C., to have the procedure performed there. On the day of her first appointment at the Dupont Clinic, she was 27 weeks pregnant. “They were the sweetest, most compassionate people that I had ever met,” she said of the clinic staff, who made her feel safe and supported. The seven weeks leading up to her arrival there, however, had been a “nightmare.”

Continued: https://www.thenation.com/article/society/later-abortion-post-roe/


USA – Compassionate Strangers Made My Abortion Happen

7/22/2020
by Seema Syed             

Editor’s Note: This piece has been published under an alias, as the author wishes to remain anonymous. This is the first time she has shared her story.

When I realized I needed an abortion, I didn’t realize that it would be a destination abortion. I didn’t realize how many barriers—how many people—would be in my way just so I could get the abortion I wanted, when I wanted it.

But thankfully, with the help of complete strangers, I was able to get the abortion I wanted at 30 weeks.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2020/07/22/compassionate-strangers-made-my-later-abortion-happen/