More Than A Magazine, A Movement
Abortion providers can be independent clinics or affiliated with a hospital or larger healthcare organization. Each one provides safe, wanted abortions to pregnant people. Abortion providers often face harassment and violence, despite widespread support for abortion access.
Former abortion provider Dr. Steven Eisinger shares his decades-long experiences in this special edition of Our Abortion Stories.
“Abortion providers are often given advice on how to avoid attacks: Drive different routes; never allow your car to be boxed in; be acutely aware of your surroundings; never stand in a window; carry a whistle, a vest, or a gun.”
Share your abortion story by emailing myabortionstory@msmagazine.com.
Your healthcare may be limited by the religious interests directing your local hospital—even If you live in a “blue” or “abortion haven” state.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new law that protects healthcare practitioners located in California who provide telehealth services and dispense medication for abortion, contraception and gender-affirming care to out-of-state patients. California joins five other states with similar telehealth provider shield laws.
“With Gov. Newsom’s signing of SB 345, healthcare providers physically located in California will be able to offer a lifeline to people in states that have cut off access to essential care,” said state Sen. Nancy Skinner.
“We want people to know that unjust abortion bans are not stopping access: In all 50 states, people can receive these safe and effective pills by mail to take in the privacy of their own homes,” said Elisa Wells, co-director of Plan C.
For years, anti-abortion groups have dominated the American landscape with billboards. Now abortion rights supporters are battling back with their own.
Shout Your Abortion recently posted six abortion rights billboards along interstate 55 through five states that have banned abortion—from Memphis, Tenn., to Carbondale, Ill. The billboards include messages like, “God’s Plan Includes Abortion” and “Abortion is Okay: You Know What’s Best for You.”
Last summer, the Supreme Court overturned the longstanding precedents of Roe v. Wade, representing the largest blow to women’s constitutional rights in history. A series from Ms., Our Abortion Stories chronicles readers’ experiences of abortion pre- and post-Roe. Abortions are sought by a wide range of people for many different reasons. There is no single story. (Share your abortion story by emailing myabortionstory@msmagazine.com.)
“I wanted that baby, but it wasn’t meant to be.”
“The law was forcing this decision for me. I cried because I knew I needed to get an abortion but didn’t know how.”
“My life is better because of my decision.”
Too often, we hear stories of people unable to obtain the abortions they desperately want and need—like Ashley, a 13-year-old rape survivor in Clarksdale, Miss., who was forced to continue her pregnancy due to financial constraints.
Resources like the National Abortion Hotline and other abortion funds could have helped Ashley and her mother understand their options, plan their travel and even cover the costs of gas, food and a place to stay during the trip. But Ashley’s doctor isn’t to blame for the incorrect and insufficient information given to Ashley and her mother—anti-abortion lawmakers and extremists are.
As a medical professional, I felt it was my duty to give the millions of pregnant people misled by people like David Reardon the correct information regarding this life-saving medication.
Self-managed abortion through pills is a life-saving method for many. And Americans deserve to know it’s safe, private and effective.
On Tuesday, Sept. 12, reproductive health experts launched a new online chatbot named Charley to help abortion seekers in all 50 states find quick, accurate and confidential abortion information, tailored to their individual needs and circumstances.
Charley only asks for a user’s zip code and date of their last period to determine how far along they are in their pregnancy. Charley also makes referrals to medical and legal support services, as well as community support networks. Co-founded by former Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards and the former head of Planned Parenthood’s digital department Tom Subak, Charley launched in partnership with INeedAnA.com, Plan C and the Miscarriage + Abortion (M+A) Hotline.
“There’s a lot of fear and confusion out there about how abortion is available, especially in restricted states, and there are different resources out there. But there hasn’t been a single resource that includes all the information. Charley does that,” said Elisa Wells, co-director of Plan C. “Charley walks people through their options and then directs them to the resources that are available to help them find more specific information.”
Telemedicine abortion provider shield laws have led to significantly quicker shipping times for people living in restrictive states—from several weeks to several days—which is critical for this time-sensitive medical care.
Between mid-June and mid-July, seven Aid Access clinicians located across these five states mailed pills to 3,500 people located in states banning abortion. “It shows what people want,” said Julie F. Kaye, co-founder of the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine Access
In Ethiopia, where I am from, abortion has been legal under a broad range of circumstances for 18 years, empowering women to take control of their futures and saving countless lives. I am so proud of the steps the government in Ethiopia has taken to expand access to abortion over the last two decades. Still, since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in the U.S. last year, these gains are looking increasingly vulnerable.
