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

Abortion clinics in embattled states face another challenge: Money

Many clinics must stop providing abortions or move. Either choice is costly.

By Max Zahn
August 15, 2022

When Katie Quinonez, the executive director of an abortion clinic in West Virginia, saw the Supreme Court decision that overturned the federal guarantee of the right to an abortion, the first word she uttered was an obscenity.

The nonprofit Women's Health Center of West Virginia, located in Charleston, faced the immediate risk of prosecution under a state abortion ban from 1882, so Quinonez and a coworker made 60 calls to patients canceling procedures scheduled for the ensuing three weeks, said Quinonez.

Continued: https://abcnews.go.com/Business/abortion-clinics-embattled-states-face-challenge-money/story?id=87945089

How Canadian Abortion Providers Are Preparing For A Potential Uptick of Americans Seeking Care

It’s not clear how many Americans will turn to Canada for abortion care, but clinics are readying as best as they can.

Sarah Ratchford
Updated August 10, 2022

Joyce Arthur’s phone has been ringing nonstop for the past two weeks, and her inbox is filling up relentlessly. She usually fields a lot of requests, but this, she says, is on a whole new level.

Arthur is the executive director of Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada, one of three national organizations fighting for improved access to abortion care in Canada. The calls have been coming since the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last month, ending the constitutional right to an abortion in the U.S. The fear Americans felt travelled north of the border, and Arthur has been working to keep Canadians up to speed about what it means in this country. The day we speak, she has already taken calls from five reporters—and it’s only late morning.

Continued: https://www.chatelaine.com/living/features-living/canada-abortion-americans/

USA – Abortion pills are becoming more commonly used but won’t be a post-Roe ‘panacea’

By Deidre McPhillips, CNN
Tue July 19, 2022

In light of last month's Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade and revoked the constitutional right to abortion, much of the Biden administration's response has been focused on protecting access to medication abortion.

Mifepristone -- a pill used to medically induce abortion in combination with another drug, misoprostol -- is approved for use by the US Food and Drug Administration, and some have argued that its federal approval could take precedence over state laws attempting to ban it.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/19/health/medication-abortion-not-for-everyone/index.html

‘People want me dead’: abortion providers fear violence after Roe overturned

Danger is a daily reality for the health workers, and moments of upheaval raise the risk, expert says
Chris Stein
Sun 3 Jul 2022

Boulder, Colorado, has for decades made its abortion providers feel welcome. The city council passed one of the country’s first laws regulating how close demonstrators could get to patients seeking reproductive care, and residents took to the streets in protest when it became clear that the supreme court was ready to overturn the constitutional right to abortion, as it did last month.

“Boulder is probably the most pro-choice community in the country,” said Warren Hern, director of the Boulder Abortion Clinic. “But there are people in the community who want me dead.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/03/abortion-providers-violence-danger-roe-wade

03.07.2022

anti-choice extremism

anti-choice murders

anti-choice violence

Boulder Abortion Clinic

National Abortion Federation

’Heightened alert’: Abortion providers in U.S. brace for ruling

Sara Burnett, The Associated Press
Published June 21, 2022

In her first week on the job at a Philadelphia abortion clinic, Amanda Kifferly was taught how to search for bombs. About a year later, protesters blocked the entrances and exits of the The Women’s Centers, at one point pulling Kifferly into something resembling a mosh pit, where they surrounded her and shoved her around.

And on the night of last winter's arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in a case that could end the nationwide right to abortion, people gathered outside a clinic in New Jersey with lawn chairs, a cooler and a flaming torch — a sight that brought to mind lynchings and other horrors of the country's racist past, says Kifferly, who now serves as vice-president for abortion access.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/heightened-alert-abortion-providers-in-u-s-brace-for-ruling-1.5957700

21.06.2022

National Abortion Federation

USA – ‘Lock it down right now’: Abortion rights advocates prepare for a new wave of digital security threats

Advocates and abortion providers are reassessing their digital security practices ahead of an expected rise in cyberattacks and surveillance.

by SAM SABIN
06/17/2022

Abortion rights groups are using software that protects privacy and are honing other strategies to combat digital threats that they expect will worsen in a post-Roe world.

Those efforts are gaining new urgency as a looming Supreme Court ruling threatens to open a new wave of security threats for people seeking abortions and their health care providers.

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/17/abortion-rights-advocates-digital-security-threats-00040654

Planned Parenthood builds staff network to help U.S. women navigate abortion hurdles

By Gabriella Borter
June 13, 2022

Planned Parenthood and other abortion rights groups are expanding a network of staff to guide patients through what is expected to become an increasingly complex and expensive process to obtain abortions across much of the United States.

Regional affiliates of Planned Parenthood said they are hiring more "patient navigators," a role dedicated to helping women find abortion appointments and secure money to cover medical, travel and childcare costs.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/planned-parenthood-builds-staff-network-help-us-women-navigate-abortion-hurdles-2022-06-13/

The Anti-Abortion Movement Killed People. Now Victims’ Families Face A Post-Roe World.

Bombings, assassinations and kidnappings: The anti-abortion movement has always had a violent wing that left families shattered.

By Christopher Mathias
Jun 13, 2022

If the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade in the coming weeks, it will mark the culmination of a decades-long, multimillion-dollar legal effort by the American conservative movement to end abortion rights and force many pregnant people to give birth.

It will also be the culmination of a
multi-decade terror campaign.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/anti-abortion-violence-murdered-families-roe-v-wade_n_62a37f2ae4b0cdccbe4fa969

USA – Pregnancy Center Trap. And how not to fall for it.

By Claire Lampen, The Cut
May 23, 2022

Type “abortion clinic near me” into your browser, and the search engine will likely return some murky results. Websites that ask if you are pregnant and “Feeling overwhelmed?” or “Looking for an abortion?” — without actually allowing you to schedule one. You may see abortion mentioned only in the context of “risks.” Or you may just see a flurry of “free” services: pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, and counseling, all at zero cost. But “if a site or a center offers only free services,” says Andrea Swartzendruber, an associate professor at the University of Georgia’s College of Public Health, it may be a sign that you’ve found your way to a crisis pregnancy center: a sham medical practice designed to lure people considering abortions and pressure them into birth. Often, Swartzendruber explains, “there aren’t telltale signs” to differentiate a real clinic from a fake one, but “there could be hints.”

Continued: https://www.thecut.com/article/abortion-crisis-pregnancy-center.html