When the news broke last night about the leaked draft opinion to overturn Roe, our first thoughts immediately went to our clients. Clients that have appointments today, tomorrow, or may want one weeks from now who may be confused about whether or not abortion is legal. We want to be clear: abortion is still legal in all 50 states.
We’re thinking of the most marginalized people who will face the most inequity when seeking abortion care. Abortion bans disproportionately impact Black, Indigenous, People of Color, low-income people, disabled people, trans and queer people, immigrants, and other marginalized people. carafem believes that medical care should focus on the physical comfort and emotional wellbeing of our clients. It also means that our client and their family’s preferences, values, and socioeconomic conditions must be respected. An important piece of this is that the right care is provided at the right time and place, and preferably within their own communities.
Secondly, this recent leak of documents from the Supreme Court seems to indicate that the upcoming Supreme Court ruling will gut or reverse Roe v Wade and leave the regulation of abortion up to the states.
We have seen with the current abortion restrictions in the South that make abortion harder to receive do nothing to stop the need for abortion. We anticipate surges of people seeking care will flee hostile states to obtain access to abortion care in states like Illinois and others who have made a commitment to keep abortion both legal and available.
carafem is very grateful to be able to serve our clients in Illinois. We currently provide abortion care both for in-state residents and also for those who travel to us from great distances seeking appointments at our heath center in Skokie and with medically supervised abortion care with pills at home. More states need to protect access to abortion care like Illinois, to assure that their residents can receive access to safe abortion care within their own communities.
Finally, we’ve also been working to make abortion care a more accessible option for those who need to travel for telehealth abortion care. Instead of spending time in a clinic, people can meet with a provider over a secure video visit and pick up medication in a nearby state. This reduces cost, takes less time, and is more private for many of our clients. carafem serves 15 states (and growing) with medically supported at home abortion pills and we’re working to raise funds to continue to expand this innovative, high quality care to all states that allow it. If you’re able, make a donation today to support this work.
