The year began with conservative efforts across the country to roll back access to abortion. Supporters of the process hope to end 2024 by lifting some of these restrictions through the ballot box.
And the results of their efforts could have a major impact on something opponents have waged war on for years: interstate abortion travel.
Ballot drives asking voters to weigh in on where limits should be set are underway in nearly a dozen states, and supporters say the success or failure of these measures will have far-reaching implications beyond state lines. told TODAY.
It serves as a kind of sanctuary for neighboring abortion-access deserts, and states with more liberal abortion laws are still under pressure from Law, a landmark 1973 case that guaranteed a constitutional right to surgical abortions. Since the reversal of v. Wade, the state has seen an influx of patients from outside the state.
And there may be even more abortion-related constitutional amendments proposed in 2024.
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“In the absence of a national right to abortion care, we are working state by state, community by community, as best we can,” said Adrian, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Rockies. Manzanares said.
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After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade and decades of federal abortion precedent in June 2022, decisions about procedures and limitations and exceptions were returned to individual states, creating a nationwide legislative patchwork. occurred.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights, more than a dozen states, the majority of which are red, have near-total bans on abortion, while a small number of blue states, such as Oregon and Vermont, have implemented near-total abortion bans. allows abortion regardless of gestational age. Some states have reinstated Roe-like abortion restrictions.
Manzanares said differences in laws are causing more patients to travel between states to seek abortions.
Planned Parenthood's health centers in Colorado, where abortion access is more widely available, saw a 10-fold increase in patients seeking care from neighboring states of Texas, Oklahoma and Arizona between 2020 and last year, according to the organization's records. increased. From October 2020 to September 2021, Colorado health centers saw 374 of these out-of-state patients. From October 2022 to September 2023, the clinic remained the same and served approximately 3,800 patients from three states. More than 75% of these women had an abortion appointment.
Most of the women were from the Lone Star State, where the procedure is almost completely banned.
“When a state ban goes into effect, it affects the entire country,” Manzanares said.
This year, voters in at least three states will decide whether to enshrine access to abortion in the constitution. And efforts to add such decisions to the ballot are still underway in about a dozen more states, including Colorado.
If these referendums pass, they could strengthen some states' status as abortion access points while opening up new access points in others.
Women travel back and forth to Florida for abortions.
Florida, a southeastern state with some of the nation's strictest abortion laws, has become a relative haven for Southern patients since Roe's ouster.
But following a recent state Supreme Court ruling, the state's current 15-week limit is about to be reduced to six weeks, meaning women in Florida and surrounding areas could face a lack of care. , said Sera Sippel, Interim Executive Director of Brigid Alliance. A group that provides resources for abortion travel.
Sippel said Florida is already one of the top states Brigid Alliance helps patients travel to, often seeking abortions in Washington, D.C. or Maryland.
And the group said it was preparing for this need to increase further after May 1, when six weeks of restrictions come into effect.
November ballot measure could change Florida again
At the same time, the Florida Supreme Court cleared the way for a bill to be on the November ballot that would protect abortions throughout the lifespan, in most cases around 24 weeks.
Tami Fitzgerald, executive director of the North Carolina Values Coalition, a 100% pro-life group, said she is concerned about the impact both Florida courts will have on her southern state.
“If Florida's heart rate bill goes into effect, every state in the South will have either a heart rate bill or a gestation limit,” Fitzgerald said. “So North Carolina's 12-week limit on abortions will once again cause women to rush across the border to obtain abortions.”
Along with Virginia, which allows abortions up to 26 weeks into pregnancy, North Carolina has one of the lowest restrictions on abortion procedures compared to other parts of the South. According to the Guttmacher Institute, North Carolina will have the second-highest number of out-of-state cases after Illinois in 2023, even after the state Legislature lowered that limit from 20 weeks to 12 weeks with exceptions last summer. Ta.
Fitzgerald said he wants the Tar Heel State to have the same restrictions as other states in the South and is concerned about a referendum like Florida's.
“This should be of concern to anyone who believes in the sanctity of human life,” she said.
Traveling for abortion care is 'not ideal'
Still, abortion access advocates say interstate travel is an imperfect solution.
“This is not ideal,” said Tara Romano, executive director of Pro-Choice North Carolina. “Because not everyone can leave the state to get an abortion. And that's how messed up this really is since (Roe was overturned).”
“If you're in a state where you can't get an abortion, being able to go to another state becomes very important,” she added. “It's just that we can't help everyone, including patients in emergency situations,” Romano said.
Manzanares said considerations for those seeking an abortion range from transportation costs to finding a place to stay in another state, taking time off from work and, for many women who are already parents, childcare costs. He said that it covers a wide range of things, including finding the.
“It's a huge financial burden. And the act of leaving your home state for care has a huge psychological impact,” Manzanares said. “Our patients are very scared. They experience deep shame and stigma. Many of them are scared.”
And aid from groups like the Brigid Alliance is being “maximized,” Sippel said.
“I would really like to say it's a good thing that this referendum is on the ballot,” Sippel said of Florida. “If passed, it would be great news for Florida. And of course, that's not enough.”
