The dystopian American reality one month after the Roe v Wade reversal
Bans at six weeks gestation or earlier, before most women know they are pregnant, are in force in 12 states as of Thursday. The bans have forced patients seeking abortions, and who have the time and money, to travel hundreds of miles from home. At times, that travel has also placed friends, family and abortion rights organizations in legal jeopardy, as states have criminalized helping people obtain abortions. Other patients have seen routine care for miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies delayed, as doctors fear criminal sanctions should they accidentally violate bans.
Sharp rise in US abortion clinic closures after Roe v Wade overturned
The number of clinics offering abortion care in 11 US states that have implemented total or six-week bans in the month since the supreme court overturned abortion rights has dropped from 71 to 43, a new study shows.
In the study released on Thursday, the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit that studies sexual and reproductive health, said that among the the 11 states, as of 24 July seven no longer had a single clinic providing abortion care.
Those states were Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas.
30 days since Roe was overturned: How the country has changed
Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, at least 13 states have ended nearly all abortion services.
Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas have completely banned abortion with few restrictions, according to the Guttmacher Institute.
Georgia, Ohio, South Carolina and Tennessee have enforced six-week bans, and Florida has enforced 15-week bans.
Wait times at Colorado abortion clinics hit 2 weeks as out-of-state patients strain system
Waits are hovering around two weeks for most clinics — up from just seven days earlier this year, according to a recent survey of providers conducted by researchers at Middlebury College. Out-of-state patient demand is the main driver behind the jump, said Caitlin Myers, an economics professor who led the survey.
“[Demand] has only grown now that Roe has been reversed and no providers remain in Arizona, Texas and Oklahoma,” Myers said. “This strain is likely to grow even more if other western states including Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming begin enforcing bans, as is widely expected.”