Soon All The Tourism Ads On TV Will Feature Abortion Clinics
171,300 patients have traveled out of state for abortion care.
The current tourism slogan for Illinois, where I live, is “The Middle of Everything!” — you know, because of how it is in the Midwest. It’s not because it’s probably one of the most convenient states for those in anti-abortion states to travel to in order to get an abortion, but it may as well be. In fact, at this point, one of our ads should feature Jane Lynch (our tourism spokesperson!) tap dancing outside of a Planned Parenthood with a real wholesome looking family from Missouri.
Hell, it even works right into the the jingle!
In the middle of everything, there’s everything to doooo … including having an abortioooooon!
It totally works.
According to a recent report from the Guttmacher Institute, from January 2023 through March 2024, at least 171,300 people traveled out of their own states to get an abortion. While it’s good to know that so many people were able to do so, it’s truly awful that they had to.
“What’s striking about this new data is how often people are traveling across multiple state lines to access abortion care,” said Isaac Maddow-Zimet, Guttmacher data scientist and Monthly Abortion Provision Study project lead. “Traveling for abortion care requires individuals to overcome huge financial and logistical barriers, and our findings show just how far people will travel to obtain the care they want and deserve. Despite the amazing resiliency of abortion patients and providers, we can’t lose sight of the fact that this is neither normal nor acceptable: A person should not have to travel hundreds or thousands of miles to receive basic health care.”
No, no they should not.
During this same time period, a total of 1,037,200 abortions were performed, which is significantly more abortions than there were in the country before Roe was overturned. This is not actually all that surprising. There were many states where abortion was technically legal but almost entirely inaccessible prior to Roe being overturned, but now we simply have more infrastructure and help available to assist out-of-state travel for abortions.
As another report from Guttmacher explained last year:
In part, this is because the drastic loss of access in states with bans has been counterbalanced by monumental efforts on the part of clinics, abortion funds and logistical support organizations to help people in ban states access care through financial and practical support. States bordering ban states had particularly large increases. In total, abortions in these states increased by 37% between 2020 and 2023, with particularly sharp increases in Illinois (38,010 more abortions than in 2020, or an increase of 72%), New Mexico (15,090 more abortions, an increase of 257%), Virginia (14,190, an increase of 76%) and North Carolina (12,970, or 41%). Much of the increase in these states was due to increased travel across state lines. Illinois, for example, provided abortion care to an estimated 25,660 more patients from out of state, accounting for 68% of its overall increase.
Not only that, but it seems quite possible that people who are at risk for complicated pregnancies might decide to just go ahead and abort earlier while it’s legal for them to do so instead of waiting and seeing how it turns out.
The need for abortion doesn’t go away when the right to get one is restricted, and people who wish to end their pregnancies are going to find a way to do so. Frankly, we only have data on legal abortions that are performed in states in which abortion is legal. The actual numbers may be much higher, as many people may be self-managing their abortions without medical guidance. Misoprostol is also used for stomach ulcers, and can be taken on its own to end a pregnancy (though obviously this is not ideal).
What is abundantly clear here is that making abortion illegal is not saving any babies, it’s just making it more expensive and time-consuming to get an abortion.
For years, the anti-abortion rights contingent has tried to portray abortion as something women do on a whim, or because they are pressured by other people, and that they would not choose if they really thought about it. This is the thought behind waiting periods and transvaginal ultrasounds and all the other nonsense that these anti-abortion rights states tried to pull before Dobbs. If that were the case, means reduction would work, the same way it works for suicide and motorcycle theft. There would be fewer abortions and less travel for abortion. But it’s not. What this shows is that those who choose abortion have truly given it a lot of thought and really do know it is the right choice for them.
If only more states respected that.
PREVIOUSLY:
Amanda Zurawski, the named plaintiff in Zurawski v Texas, has, as a result of a pregnancy that turned septic, suffered extensive damage to her reproductive tract because she could not receive timely treatment. Now, her ability to conceive and carry a future pregnancy to term is in doubt, and the Texas AG's office, in the preparation phase of the trial, tried to argue that, since she is unlikely to need an abortion due to the damage she suffered, she did not have standing to sue. I can't begin to fathom how broken and ghoulish you'd have to be to make an argument like that.
OT a little, but I was thinking about how the USSC has been doing all it can to enable Shitler in taking power, and it occurred to me that they might think that they can exert some control over him once in office, but the minute he doesnt like a ruling of theirs, he's gonna ignore it. He'll destroy the high court. He'll destroy everything.