NOS
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NOS News•today, 06:34
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Robert Chesal
editor Abroad
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Robert Chesal
editor Abroad
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For millions of unwanted pregnant women in America, the options for having an abortion are rapidly disappearing from view. Since the Supreme Court abolished nationwide abortion law last week, dozens of states have declared termination of pregnancy illegal.
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There are still other states where abortion remains legal. But those are out of reach for many women. It’s not just a matter of mileage, but also money, time and the goodwill of the community. The threshold has risen considerably.
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Look here at the number of kilometers that unwanted pregnant women have to travel before and after the Supreme Court ruling.
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“I think it’s unfair. Inhumane.” So says Zamaiya Lowe (24), nurse at Alabama Women’s Center, an abortion clinic in the Alabama town of Huntsville. After the decision of the Court last Friday, she had to phone dozens of pregnant women in haste to cancel their appointment for an abortion. She tells the NOS about it.
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“That was horrible,” she says. “Some had come from far to our clinic and had already had their intake, their ultrasound scan and blood work. They were in the mandatory 48-hour waiting period and then I had to send them away. I had an abortion myself once and I can not imagining what it must be like to be mentally prepared and then get that message.”
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I am not allowed to tell an unwanted pregnant woman where to get an abortion, because then I would be an accomplice.
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But the worst, according to Lowe, is that she couldn’t do anything to help those women. “Most knew the Supreme Court decision was imminent and hoped to get ahead of the Alabama ban. But there were a few I called who hadn’t followed the news. They knew nothing about it.”
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“When they realized we couldn’t help them anymore, they asked where to go,” Lowe says. “But we weren’t allowed to tell. Under anti-abortion law in Alabama, we are complicit, even if we just tell the women in which states they can have a legal abortion. If I give that information, I could get a prison sentence.”
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Before the ban went into effect, women in Alabama had to travel an average of 50 miles (80 km) to the nearest abortion clinic. Since the most accessible legal clinic is now in North Carolina, that average travel distance has become 500 miles. Kind of like going from Amsterdam to Paris.
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On such a trip to get an abortion, women will soon lose about $1500. That is not feasible for many.
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Money plays a big role in addition to distance, says Zack Gingrinch-Gaylord, spokesperson for Trust Women, an abortion clinic organization that no longer performs abortions in Oklahoma due to a ban. “You can easily spend 400 dollars on gas to travel to a neighboring state. The abortion itself costs around a thousand dollars. Plus hotel. What do you do when you have to turn every dime?”
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Then the working conditions and family situation. “Not every working woman gets paid while on leave, and sometimes you just get fired if you take time off,” Gingrich-Gaylord said. Two thirds of the women who turn to Trust Women for an abortion are already mothers. They cannot take and care for their children during such a journey.
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Female undocumented migrants do not dare to travel at all, he says. “They are afraid of the police, sometimes speak the language poorly and do not know their rights.”
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Social stigma
The new anti-abortion laws are designed to isolate women who want abortions from their environment, Gingrich-Gaylord says. “If you give a woman a lift to another state for an abortion, you could face a civil lawsuit.”
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“Look at that from the woman’s perspective, then you will understand that she no longer dares to ask her parents or the pastor for money or other support. Because then she is complicit in making people around her an accomplice. Such a law damages the community bond and stigmatizes it,” says Gingrich-Gaylord.
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Unlike his colleagues in Alabama, his Oklahoma organization continues to advise women where they can legally get an abortion. Even if that is impossible for some.
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For nurse Zamaiya Lowe in Alabama, the workload has been drastically scaled back. “All we can do is pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, and tests for STDs. It’s a shame that one group can determine this for all women. People are forcing their view of life on everyone else.”
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