Across the country, thousands of women, minors, pregnant women, parents and their children cross state lines to get the critical, medically necessary, life-saving care they or their loved ones need. They are forced to travel far from home. It's what you need. These involuntary trips often require multi-day road trips, expensive flights, expensive hotels, lost wages, and expensive childcare costs, resulting in hundreds or thousands of dollars in additional costs. occurs.
These are real people. Kate Cox, a Texas mother of two, was forced to travel out of state to terminate her pregnancy after her fetus was diagnosed with trisomy 18 at 20 weeks pregnant. This decision was to protect her own health and her future fertility. , a fatal condition. The mother, whose name is Katie, was forced to drive her son Ray eight hours across state lines because her home state of Mississippi banned access to gender-affirming care.
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Across the country, these trips are necessary for thousands of families because of anti-transgender and abortion regulations that fundamentally change their ability to access basic health care. This erosion of freedom is part of a deliberate campaign by far-right political movements to control our bodies and lives.
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Currently, 22 states ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth. This means that 35% of transgender youth in the United States live in places where they do not have access to care supported by every reputable medical society in the country, care that research shows is safe and lifesaving. It means to be. If you live in the Southeast, you can drive as little as 12 hours to Virginia, New Mexico, or Illinois to legally get the care you need. That's why the Southern Equality Campaign launched the Southern Trans Youth Emergency Project. The project will help families understand the rapidly changing situation, help them identify out-of-state health care options, and provide $500 emergency grants to ease the financial burden of the ban.
Twenty-one states ban abortion or impose significant restrictions on the procedure, and 14 states ban abortion altogether. Women and pregnant people have been forced to travel to obtain abortions for a long time, even before the Supreme Court ruling. dobbsBut since that decision, that number has skyrocketed, and by 2023, nearly one in five abortion seekers will be forced to travel out of state for care. Brigid Alliance provides comprehensive and personalized transportation and logistics support to: We found that clients who must travel for abortion services have since traveled 30% longer distances (an average of 1,300 miles round trip). dobbs.
Accessing abortion and gender-affirming care is never easy.Before too egg That plan was reversed, and 89% of U.S. counties lacked abortion providers. And because there are so few gender-affirming care providers in the South, the Southern Equality Campaign created a “Trans Southern” guide just to help transgender people understand their options. However, this could sometimes take several hours. But policy cuts over the past two years have made access even more dire.
Brigid Alliance and the Southern Equality Campaign are part of an ecosystem of advocacy organizations supporting people in an increasingly hostile environment, but we cannot ignore the larger issue.
Our nation is hurtling toward a future in which there are “two Americas” in terms of access to basic and, in many cases, life-saving medical care.
Because this is the truth. These bans are intended to prevent people from accessing certain medical care, but in many cases they do not actually stop them from receiving medical care. Instead, they make treatment much more expensive, add to the burden, and force people into nightmarish itineraries. Those who need an abortion and have the means will find a way to get one. Parents whose children need gender reassignment drugs will find a way to obtain them if they have the means.
Brigid Alliance and the Southern Trans Youth Emergency Project exist to ensure that those who do not have the means to access this care receive the support they need, both financially and materially.
However, this is not a long-term solution. There is an urgent need for Americans to wake up to the far-right Christian nationalist movement that is leading the attack on our rights. We must recognize that the Venn diagram of attacks on abortion care and attacks on gender-affirming care is essentially a circle.
While this extremist movement certainly has significant political power in some states, it represents a majority of Americans in nearly all 50 states and the District of Columbia who passionately support abortion rights and LGBTQ+ equality. Not that I'm doing it.in every election since then dobbs In areas where abortion is on the ballot (including additional races defined by candidate differences on abortion policies, such as in Virginia and Kentucky), voters may choose to protect or expand access to abortion. chose to do so. And in Ohio, just months after voters specifically approved a ballot measure affirming the right to abortion care, Republican politicians are pushing through tough anti-trans laws and blocking progress on abortion access. I did everything I could to resist.
We have the numbers, but effectively resisting this oppression starts by naming overlapping alliances and priorities, working together to build pathways to innovative care, and States must be firmly committed to a future where people can access critical health care without leaving their homes.
Sera Sippel is the Interim Executive Director of Brigid Alliance. Brigid Alliance provides practical support to those seeking abortion care, provides travel, meals, lodging, childcare, and other logistical support to those seeking abortions, and works with dedicated Client Services Coordinators to assist those seeking abortion care. We will work with you to make your reservation on time.
Alison Scott is the Director of Impact and Innovation at the Southern Equality Campaign. Through the Southern Trans Youth Emergency Project, CSE has helped more than 600 families and individuals weather the ban on gender-affirming care and has provided families with more than $400,000 in direct emergency assistance since the beginning of 2023. is being distributed.
