Additional restrictions in nearby commonwealths pose further barriers to access
Abortion prohibitions or restrictions in one state are cumbersome enough. But when it’s accompanied by laws in nearby states, it creates a situation for women in which abortion is nearly impossible to get.
Take the Lonestar state as an example. According to a study conducted at the University of Texas, nearly three out of every four women who had abortions went to either Oklahoma or New Mexico. That inconvenience means a nearly 450-mile drive from Houston to some of those clinics.
That may not be an option in the future with Oklahoma passing a law recently calling for 10 years in prison for performing an abortion procedure. New Mexico is likewise a state that could see additional restrictions. Absent those two, the best two options for Texas women would be Colorado and California, each of which is a far longer drive and more expensive to lodge in.
Additionally, there is the problem of getting appointments. Some have booked them weeks in advance. Such difficulty getting seen means that women may have to have an abortion later in pregnancy. Those procedures are more likely to be regulated by various states. So as we wait for the Supreme Court to decide the fate of Planned Parenthood v. Casey and Roe v. Wade, the challenge for pro-choice leaders is to figure out ways in which remaining abortion clinics will be able to meet the demand. Labor shortages in abortion care may mean paying to relocate abortion workers in states where it is illegal to ones where it can be performed. Or it could mean creating more traveling abortion worker programs.
Cell phone apps in which reproductive rights activists and abortion-seekers can help each other through lodging arrangements and logistical planning would also be something that could help reduce barriers to abortion care. There would have to be some sort of security or screening done to filter out antiabortion harassment or sabotage. Perhaps a trusted doctor could refer a patient through such a service, which would then permit the women to find transportation and housing from someone who was vetted for trustworthiness.
Reproductive rights leaders and activists nationwide are already contingency planning. And we’ll see by the end of the Supreme Court term in the middle of June whether those plans have to be implemented.
The report is located here.