PHILADELPHIA -- Reproductive-rights advocates say if the U.S. Supreme Court weakens or overturns Roe v. Wade, more women may seek abortion services in Pennsylvania.
Lawmakers in Ohio have said they intend to limit access to abortions as much as possible, and West Virginia still has an abortion ban on the books that predates Roe v. Wade - the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that says women have the right to choose whether or not to bear a child.
Seneca Joyner, manager of community organizing at the Women's Medical Fund, said if the new conservative members of the court succeed in overturning Roe, women in such states may have no other options.
"Coming across the state border to receive care provided by people that respect your choices about your life and your family will be really important to people who live in the states that border us," Joyner said.
The Women's Medical Fund provides counseling and emergency financial assistance to women living in poverty who need access to abortion services. Brandi Collins-Calhoun, senior movement engagement associate with the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, said such funds exist in many states and are playing an increasingly critical role in maintaining access to abortion services.
"They're funding the practical support for patients," Collins-Calhoun said. "They're doing their travel, their lodging and they're also doing a lot of the direct service work."
She added at least 10 states have passed so-called trigger laws - bans on most or all abortions that will automatically go into effect if Roe v. Wade is overturned.
Continuing access to abortion services in Pennsylvania also could be in jeopardy. Joyner noted the Commonwealth already has more than 1,200 pages of abortion restrictions and regulations on the books.
"So, I imagine it is actually just going to get worse; which is - I know for a fact - the intention of the law both here in Pennsylvania and in the states that border us", Joyner said.
She said maintaining access to abortion services as an issue of racial and economic justice.
Disclosure: National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy contributes to our fund for reporting on Health Issues, Immigrant Issues, Reproductive Health, Women's Issues. If you would like to help support news in the public interest,
click here.
Vending machines commonly found in workplace break rooms generally contain soft drinks or snacks but one machine in Indianapolis dispenses unconventional items at the turn of a knob.
The Plan B morning-after pill, pregnancy tests and condoms are displayed in a clear glass case inside a colorful blue and orange dispenser. The items provide easy access to protection against an unwanted pregnancy and are free of charge.
Melissa Gruver, organizing director of the feminist organization Indiana Task FORCE, said it operates like a traditional vending machine.
"You just push whenever you want and it falls down, and you reach your hand through the little door and you pull it out, take it with you," Gruver explained.
A 2022 Indiana Department of Health Termination Report indicated 9,600 pregnancies were aborted, with Marion County recording the highest number of unwanted pregnancies. The report also noted the average age of a woman in Indiana who sought an abortion was 27, and 67% of all terminated pregnancies occurred within four to eight weeks of conception.
The state's contentious near-total abortion ban, which was upheld by the Indiana Supreme Court last year, has stoked fears lawmakers may begin restricting a woman's choice of birth control.
Indiana Task FORCE and reproductive health groups All-Options and the Midwest Access Coalition want the emergency contraceptive vending machine to serve as a gathering spot for community conversations on reproductive rights and sexual health.
"We've long been organizing our communities to bring about reproductive justice, which we didn't have before and we definitely don't have it now," Gruver pointed out. "But what we know to be true is that there are more of us that want access to reproductive care than those that try to stop it. We're excited to continue to work to meet this need now, and to organize for a better community."
Gruver hopes to have one dispenser in every Indiana region in the future to add to the single machine currently in an eastside Indianapolis grocery store. She added some universities in the state already have vending machines offering similar contraception products but users have to purchase the items.
This story is based on original reporting by Mary Claire Molloy for Mirror Indy.
get more stories like this via email
On Tuesday, the Arizona Supreme Court upheld an 1864 ban on nearly all abortions, except in situations when it is necessary to save the life of a pregnant person. It makes abortion a felony punishable by two to five years in prison for anyone who performs one or helps someone obtain one.
Arizona's near-total abortion ban will be one of the harshest in the country, along with Alabama, Mississippi and Texas.
Gov. Katie Hobbs said the law, written well before Arizona became a state or women had the right to vote, is placing lives in danger.
"I've personally experienced the anguish of losing a pregnancy," Hobbs noted. "I know it's outrageous to have the government tell you that the best decision for your health or future could now be considered a crime."
On the social media platform 'X,' Gov. Hobbs described it as a "dark day for Arizona." But anti-abortion advocates are celebrating a big win, even as some Republican lawmakers think the ban should be repealed. The Arizona Supreme Court put its decision on hold for 14 days as additional constitutional challenges are cleared up.
The ruling has rattled Democrats, including mother and nurse practitioner Sen. Eva Burch, D-Mesa. Just a couple of weeks ago, Burch announced on the state Senate floor she had an undergone an abortion procedure. She contended Arizonans of any political affiliation do not want an abortion ban.
"Somebody took care of me. Somebody gave me a procedure so I wouldn't have to experience another miscarriage; the pain, the mess, the discomfort," Burch stressed. "And now, we're talking about whether or not we should put that doctor in jail. This is outrageous."
Kris Mayes, Attorney General, said in a statement as long as she is in office, no person or doctor will be prosecuted under what she called a "draconian law."
Vice President Kamala Harris is set to visit the Grand Canyon State later this week to champion reproductive rights. And Arizona pro-choice advocates recently secured enough signatures for a ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights in the state Constitution.
get more stories like this via email
Nevada reproductive-rights advocates are breaking down the importance of two looming Supreme Court abortion cases.
In Moyle v. United States, access to the abortion drug mifepristone could be restricted - and in Idaho v. United States, a federal law known as the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) could be upended.
It requires hospitals to provide care in serious emergency situations that could warrant an abortion.
Alexis Salt is a Las Vegas-based teacher who experienced a difficult pregnancy herself and gave birth to a severely premature daughter.
She said she was able to receive the care she needed and wanted, but is sharing her experience to shine light on the importance of abortion in life-threatening situations - which she says is currently at stake.
"When you are pregnant, it can absolutely - 100% - kill you," said Salt. "It almost killed me, and so when people, particularly men, tell you that this is what your body is supposed to do, 'don't worry about it,' you can't listen to that."
The Alliance Defending Freedom is a conservative organization representing the State of Idaho - and says when the Supreme Court overturned Roe, it returned the issue of abortion to individual states, allowing pro-life policies to be passed.
It contends that the Biden administration is "misusing" federal law to "override" state law and allow abortions to be conducted. The Supreme Court will hear the case on April 24.
Margardia Jorge is executive director of the grassroots health-care advocacy organization Health Care for America Now.
She said she is by no means a legal expert - but adds that the Supreme Court justices are "unpredictable," and worries about the actions the conservative majority on the high court could take with these two high-stakes cases.
"We have seen this court reverse past precedent," said Jorge. "We have seen them rule on things that roll back all kinds of functions and features of government. We have seen them, time and time again, take the wrong side or use these court cases as an opportunity to impose their own ideology. "
Jorge said there is a lot more work to do to make abortion health care, which she contends impacts everyone, from pro-life to pro-choice.
She said the biggest challenge will be for people to see abortion in that light and to get it out of the political sphere.
get more stories like this via email
Contact
