When news broke last night about the leaked draft opinion to overturn Roe, our first thought immediately went to our clients. Clients who have appointments today, tomorrow, or may want a week from now who may be confused about whether or not the abortion is legal. We want to be clear: abortion is still legal in all 50 states.
We think of the most marginalized people who will face the most inequity when seeking abortion care. Abortion bans disproportionately affect Black, Indigenous, People of Color, low-income people, people with disabilities, trans and queer people, immigrants, and other marginalized people. carafem believes that medical care should focus on the physical comfort and emotional well-being of our clients. It also means that we must respect our client and the preferences, values, and socioeconomic conditions of our client and their family. An important part of this is that the right care is provided at the right time and place, and preferably within their own communities.
Second, this recent release of documents from the Supreme Court seems to indicate that the upcoming decision of the Supreme Court will be gutted or reversed Roe v. Wade and leave the regulation of abortion up to the states.
We have seen in the current abortion restrictions in the South that make it harder to get an abortion and do nothing to prevent the need for abortion. We expect that an increasing number of people seeking care will flee bad states to gain access to abortion care in states like Illinois and others that have made a commitment to keep abortion legal and available.
carafem is very grateful to be able to serve our clients in Illinois. We currently provide abortion care for both in-state residents and those who travel to us from long distances seeking appointments at our heath center in Skokie and have medically supervised abortion care with pills at house More states need to protect access to abortion care like Illinois, to ensure that their residents can receive access to safe abortion care within their own communities.
Finally, we are also working to make abortion care an easier option for those who need to travel for telehealth abortion care. Instead of spending time in a clinic, people can meet with a provider over a secure video visit and get medicine in a nearby state. This reduces cost, takes less time, and is more private for many of our clients. Carafem serves 15 states (and growing) with medically assisted at-home abortion pills and we are working hard to raise funds to continue expanding this innovative, high-quality care to all states that allow it. . If you can, donate today to support this work.
