– We see many tears, says Kathaleen Pittman, who is the manager of the small clinic Hope Medical Group for Women in Shreveport in Louisiana.
Many of the women who come here are from neighboring Texas.
– CLINIC MANAGER: Kahtaleen Pittmann says they meet many women who are in a desperate situation. Photo: AFP / FRANCOIS PICARD
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In September last year, one of the USA’s strictest abortion laws was introduced. Abortion is prohibited after the fetal heartbeat can be detected. In practice, this means a ban after week six, ie a time when women do not know they are pregnant.
If the US Supreme Court abolishes the federal right to self-determined abortion, as a leaked document now suggests, abortion legislation will be entirely up to each state.
Expensive and time consuming
Shayla has been driving for five hours, from her home in Texas to the clinic in Shreveport to have an abortion. For six weeks she has been trying to get an appointment to end the pregnancy.
“It is impossible to have an abortion in Texas now,” she told the AFP news agency.
– WAITED LONG: Shayla is one of the women who has come to the clinic in Shreveport from the neighboring state of Texas, where she does not have the opportunity to have an abortion. Photo: AFP / FRANCOIS PICARD
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The 27-year-old says that two organizations have helped her raise the 2,000 dollars she needed to have the abortion performed.
One of the main reasons why she wants to have an abortion is that it is difficult to get good and stable childcare.
– How should one then be able to work?
In the waiting room also sits a 16-year-old girl with her mother.
– She found out that she was pregnant a month and a half ago, her mother says.
– Evil
According to the head of the clinic, many are now well on their way when it comes to having an abortion, due to the long waiting times.
– It’s not ideal. In addition, as a woman has decided that she wants to terminate the pregnancy, it is malicious to delay her opportunity to have the procedure done, says Pittmann.
– TRAVEL: The clinic in Shreveport, Louisiana, has had to staff since the neighboring state of Texas introduced one of the strictest abortion laws in the United States. Photo: AFP / FRANCOIS PICARD
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According to Planned Parenthood, which works for self-determined abortion and has clinics across the United States, the number of patients from Texas in neighboring states has increased by 800 percent.
But many are unable to get to any clinic at all, and Pittmann tells of desperate women who call and ask what they themselves can do to end the pregnancy.
– We must tell them that everything they try to do to terminate the pregnancy is guaranteed to hurt them the most.
– CALLER: An employee at the clinic in Shreveport answers one of the many calls they receive from women who want to have an abortion. Photo: AFP / FRANCOIS PICARD
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Most of the waiting room at the clinic in Shreveport are African American women. And so it is with the statistics.
The abortion rate among black women is five times higher than among white women, according to figures from The Guttmacher Institute, which is a pro-choice organization.
Strict abortion legislation often goes beyond those who are in the worst position before, advocates of self-determined abortion.
– I can not have two children and strive even more to survive, says Shayla, who has a two-year-old from before.
– SUPPORT: “I’m on your side,” reads the sign at the entrance to the abortion clinic in Shreveport. For many women, it is very difficult to get here. Photo: AFP / FRANCOIS PICARD
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If the Supreme Court reverses Roe vs. Wade, the ruling that today ensures self-determined abortion, has 26 states signaled that they will restrict abortion rights.
However, most Americans want to keep Roe vs. Wade, according to opinion polls conducted by the AP.
The polls show that 69 percent of those who voted in the election in 2020, think it should remain as it is.
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