Protests against the law’s end: Medical professionals can’t provide the highest standard of care in the United States, but there are ways to protect mifepristone

Other protests in support of mifepristone access and abortion rights took place across the country Saturday, including in South Dakota, Texas, Chicago and Florida. More are expected on Sunday.

If the Supreme Court hadn’t stayed the decision Friday afternoon, portions of Kacsmaryk’s injunction would have gone into effect on Saturday.

Nothing has changed, and it is unclear if the ruling would be covered if the Supreme Court allowed it to go ahead after Wednesday.

The leader of the organization that helps pay for abortions said at the demonstration that the judges aren’t doctors and that the protesters are anti-abortion.

More than half of US abortions now consist of medication abortions, making them the focus of the legal fight. They’re less expensive than other forms of abortion.

Several doctors who spoke in Washington said medical professionals can’t provide high-quality, evidence-based care where abortion restrictions are in effect. The move to ban the pill mifepristone is antithetical to her medical practice according to Dr. Divya Shenoy.

“My patients should be able to receive the highest standard of care without stigma or judgment or judges with no medical training telling them the type of health care they can or cannot receive,” Shenoy added.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/04/15/1170268300/planned-parenthood-rally-abortion-pill-mifepristone-supreme-court

How many abortions do out-of-state women seek in Mexico? The experience of Brittany House, an advocate of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country

Brittany House, a patient advocate pursuing a master’s degree in public health, said her medication abortion several years ago allowed her to build the life and career she wanted and to get out of an abusive relationship. She said that Mifepristone was the best care for her young body, mind and spirit.

Black mothers and infants have worse health outcomes if states ban abortion, and she said that the most at risk are Latino and Indigenous mothers.

Booking flight, train and bus tickets for out-of-state abortion seekers, arranging hotel stays and giving them money for food and gas is only half the job according to the abortion navigation program manager.

“We’re being as creative as possible to really just work with every individual patient to resolve all those barriers that might stand in the way between making their decision and getting to our door,” she said.

Texans travel to New Mexico to have an abortion. Even though a couple of new clinics opened near the state border in recent months, Mansanares said a two week wait would send women further north to Colorado, where only 11 women from Texas sought an abortion a decade ago. Last year, that number was 2,345.

Sandwiched between Arizona and Texas – collectively home to more than 37 million people and some of the country’s most restrictive abortion laws – New Mexico has administered 232 more abortions each month on average since the Dobbs decision, #WeCount reports.

The majority are from neighboring states with restrictions, like Wisconsin, Pliskin said. But a number are coming from Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, and southern states as far as Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

What do people think about abortions? The trauma of seeing decisions like Dobbs’ reversal of Roe v. Wade

“As a person with the capacity to have a child, I’m horrified that a person with that kind of decision-making ability would make that choice,” Pliskin said. It’s even more traumatizing hearing those stories and challenges that people have to overcome on their own.

Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains President Adrienne Mansanares said they had been anticipating the reversal of Roe v. Wade since former President Donald Trump took office, but “couldn’t have predicted” the impact.

“It’s really important to remember that each of those abortions represents someone’s life and livelihood,” said Ohio State University researcher Mikaela Smith, who is also a member of the #WeCount steering committee.

It’s like, do you need blankets? Mansanares said. “They’re [like] refugees. They’re seeking care and having to drive through the night to do that.”

Mansanares said that he couldn’t go to his kid’s school without his phone. “I can’t imagine driving 17 hours to go to a [clinic you’ve] never been to…. And when they arrive they have no phone. They are so fearful that they are going to be arrested, that they’re doing something wrong.”

The number of Americans getting an abortion decreased after the Dobbs decision. A study published 6 months after Dobbs found that the average commute to reach a provider had tripled to 100 minutes.

“That’s 20 million people who don’t have abortion care in the state they live in,” Mansanares said, noting that wait times used to be three days. “We’re not going to be able to see 20 million people in New Mexico.”

Clinics are increasing their Telehealth options to meet increasing demand for family planning and birth control. They have also been expanding their hours and improving benefits for staff whose work takes an emotional toll.

Mansanares said that the trauma came onto the providers and staff. It’s difficult to shake off because there are more patients to contend with.