Planned Parenthood’s Strategy For Countering Abortion Bans in the Midwest
Planned Parenthood's mobile abortion clinic will conduct abortions near the borders of states that have restricted the practice.
On Monday, October 3rd, Planned Parenthood officials announced plans for a mobile abortion clinic. The 37-foot-long RV, which contains a small waiting room, a laboratory, and two exam rooms, will position itself near states that have banned abortion following the Dobbs v. Jackson decision earlier this year. The clinic will situate itself in southern Illinois near southeastern Missouri, western Kentucky, and Northeaster Tennessee but will remain within Illinois borders so as to not breach other state laws.
The RV is expected to arrive this month and, for the time being, is only providing medicated abortions of up to eleven weeks – though Planned Parenthood intends to provide surgical abortions at the location after the first few months. In an interview with AP News, chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood St. Louis, Dr. Colleen McNicholas, says she hopes the clinic will “make a dramatic impact on [patients’] access.” She has declined to discuss any safety or security measures for the clinic.
Illinois has been one of the few states in the Midwest and South to uphold its abortion policy despite heavy restrictions or outright bans throughout other states in the region following Dobbs. Because of Illinois' relatively lax abortion policies, the state has seen a massive influx of abortion seekers from neighboring states that have banned the procedure. St. Louis Planned Parenthood stated that the Fairview Heights clinic experienced a 30% increase in abortion-seeking patients in June, while patients from outside Illinois increased by over 340%.
Only a few weeks prior to the arguing of the Dobbs v. Jackson case, Illinois legislators proposed an amendment to repeal the Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995, a law that previously required minors to notify a legal parent or guardian before seeking an abortion. The amendment, titled the Youth Health and Safety Act (HB00370), went into full effect as of June this year and cites its purpose as the following:
“Illinois' support of reproductive health care stood in stark contrast to actions in other states aimed at limiting, and even banning, access to reproductive health care, including abortion care. The Reproductive Health Act further established Illinois as a bulwark in the protection of access to reproductive health care in the Midwest.”
With midterms elections fast approaching, Vice President Kamala Harris visited Chicago in September to take part in a political rally at UIC, urging Chicago voters to preserve Illinois’ protection of abortion. Though abortion is already enshrined in Illinois law, the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade may inspire a higher voter presence in the upcoming November.
Lori Lightfoot, mayor of Chicago, also signed an executive order in July which prohibits local department officials from participating in or cooperating with any investigations of women seeking abortions from neighboring states.