Abortion Illegal States are Mostly Abortion Rights States



There are so many groups collecting money of the premise they are stopping abortions. The biggest one of course is the Catholic denomination. Often they issue press releases touting the several states where abortion has been made illegal. I'm reading a book After Dobbs that tells the stories of how abortion clinics around the country have coped with the new abortion restrictions and legalization. It is revealing to read about clinics on the edge of states where abortion has been made illegal.

Many readers here know about North Dakota. It had one clinic that was located in Fargo. Fargo is on the eastern edge of the State. When ND went "no abortions" the clinic simply moved 10 minutes across the river to Moorhead, MN. North Dakota remains a state where abortions are available. 

A clinic discussed in the book is located in East St. Louis, Illinois. This is across the river from St. Louis, Missouri. Sixty percent of the clinic's patients are from Missouri. This, and other clinics on the border of Illinois make much of Missouri a state with abortion rights. That clinic also has patients who come all the way from Texas. 

I've been reading about abortion in Mexico trying to understand how common it is for women from the U.S. to get abortions or abortion medicines from there. I discussed a year or so ago here the underground operation bringing in medical abortion pills from Mexico. People involved believe a large number of U.S. women smuggle the pills across and deliver them to others who then distribute them. But the groups are so afraid of being detected they do not reveal themselves to each other let alone anyone trying to estimate their numbers. New surgical abortion clinics are opening. At least one in located in Baja and another opened in Cancun. The one in Cancun caters to women in Florida, an non stop flight away. State run hospitals in various areas of Mexico also perform abortions. All of this reminding us that official abortion numbers published in the U.S. do not include those done in Mexico.

The clinics discussed in the book are doing many abortions but anti abortion states make their task more difficult. Often women show up after hours of travel and learn their pregnancy is too far along to be performed at the clinic they came to. Other arrangements have to be cobbled together with more travel. 

All the clinics are pleased with the large amount of money now available through private donations to help women pay for travel and abortions. All of this illustrates what a waste it is for otherwise good people to send money to anti abortion groups who claim they are limiting abortions. 

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