Protestors outside the Supreme Court.Photo: Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty
The growing strain on reproductive rights is significantly impacting the country’s remaining abortion providers.
Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Indianapolis, toldThe Cincinnati Enquirerthat she terminated a pregnancy for a 10-year-old girl who traveled from Ohio following theSupreme Court’s decision to overturn 1973’sRoe v. Wadeand the constitutional right to abortion.
Although abortion is still legal in Indiana, Dr. Bernard worries doctors there soon won’t be able to provide the service either as state lawmakers are expected to further restrict or ban abortion during an Indiana General Assembly special session on July 25.
“It’s hard to imagine that in just a few short weeks we will have no ability to provide that care,” Dr. Bernard said.
Indiana abortion providers have seen an influx of out-of-state patients since the SCOTUS ruling. Dr. Katie McHugh, another Indiana ob-gyn, told theEnquirershe has fielded “an insane amount of requests” from Ohio and Kentucky, with out-of-state calls jumping from between five and eight a day to around 20.
Meanwhile, a Kentucky judge hastemporarily stopped the state from enacting a “trigger ban"on abortion, and Ohio clinicshave taken out a lawsuitto find the state’s six-week ban unconstitutional.
PresidentJoe Bidenpreviously doubled down on his pro-choice support, announcing from a press conference in Madrid on Thursday that hewill have news to shareafter meeting with some governors this weekend.
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“The most important thing to be clear about is I believe we have to codifyRoe v. Wadein the law,” he said firmly. “The way to do that is to make sure the Congress votes to do that, and if the filibuster gets in the way, it’s like voting rights – it should be [that] we provide an exception to this … requiring an exception to the filibuster for this action to deal with the Supreme Court decision.”
Last month’s6-to-3 rulingreversed nearly 50 years of precedent, giving states the power to pass their own laws around abortion. Since the decision, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri and South Dakota have alreadybanned abortion in their states, afterputting trigger laws in placethat governors enacted following the SCOTUS ruling.
source: people.com
