A report from the Senate Democratic team shows the cascading effects of banning abortion in all states, even those where the procedure is still legal.
The report, led by Sen. Maria Cantwell’s (D-Wash.) team and followed by all Democratic senators as well as Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), was based on interviews with more than 80 health care professionals providers and advocates.
The report comes amid Senate Democrats’ monthslong focus on abortion, intended to highlight differences between the parties over abortion rights and women’s access to health care ahead of the November elections.
Democrats want to keep abortion on voters’ minds and showcase what they say is Republican extremism on the issue. Recent votes on contraception, in vitro fertilization and the codification of Roe protections have attempted to put Republicans at an impasse between the desires of their conservative base and the US majority.
The Democratic report echoes findings from other studies by abortion rights research groups, including the Guttmacher Institute and the Family Planning Society’s WeCount project.
They all found that more women need to travel further for abortions and are sometimes airlifted out of state in medical emergencies. Obstetricians and gynecologists and other health care providers are fleeing states where abortion is prohibited, and wait times in protected states are becoming longer.
“At least 23 million women of reproductive age across the country live in states where abortion is prohibited. That’s 23 million women who will not have access to care if they become pregnant and need an abortion,” Cantwell said at a press conference at Tuesday, anticipating the situation. report. “Women… are in life-threatening situations and do not have access to health care.”
Two years after the Supreme Court ended Roe v. Wade, people with wanted pregnancies are leaving states that ban abortion in search of care. States that protect abortion are seeing longer wait times as limited clinics deal with an influx of patients who are forced to travel.
A Guttmacher report previously found that nearly 1 in 5 people traveled out of state in the first half of 2023, compared to 1 in 10 in 2020.
Clinics in Kansas and Illinois are facing wait times of up to three weeks in some cases, as Illinois has become one of the closest states for women living in southern states where abortion is banned.
Two-week wait times were reported in South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia, likely because of Florida’s new six-week ban.
And even patients who live in the state sometimes need to travel. For example, the Democratic report spoke with advocates in Ohio who said patients living in Cincinnati and Cleveland often have to travel to clinics outside of their local cities because many out-of-state patients come to Ohio seeking care.
But as the report noted, flying or even driving for hours on end isn’t always an option, especially for some people of color and low-income people.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
