© 2024 All Rights reserved WUSF
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

1A Remaking America: Crossing state lines for abortion care

A woman waits for her appointment to receive an abortion at a Planned Parenthood Abortion Clinic  in West Palm Beach, Florida.
A woman waits for her appointment to receive an abortion at a Planned Parenthood Abortion Clinic in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Abortion is now illegal in 12 states, according to the Guttmacher Institute. That means many people have to travel hundreds of miles to get an abortion.

In 2021, before the Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade, it took a patient less than 30 minutes, on average, to get to an abortion clinic. Now it takes over an hour and a half, on average. That data is from a 2022 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Patients now have to go to “safe haven” states like Kansas. We hear from a woman from Oklahoma who traveled hours north to Kansas for her abortion last year.

This conversation is part of our Remaking America collaboration with six public radio stations around the country, including KMUW. Remaking America is funded in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Copyright 2023 WAMU 88.5

Tags
June Leffler, Amanda Williams
You Count on Us, We Count on You: Donate to WUSF to support free, accessible journalism for yourself and the community.