California doctor Meg Autry has proposed an innovative solution to those seeking abortions in southern U.S. states where bans have been put in place after the fall of Roe v. Wade.
(AP).- Autry outlined an idea for a floating abortion clinic in the Gulf of Mexico as an option to maintain access for people who would be pressed to travel far distances to receive treatment.
The proposed ship, tabbed PRROWESS, would be out of reach of state laws and offer first-trimester surgical abortions, contraception and other care, according to its website. PRROWESS stands for Protecting Reproductive Rights of Women Endangered by State Statutes.
Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, all states that have abortion bans, are far distances from states where abortion is legal. New Mexico, for instance, offers legalized abortion procedures as one of the closest for Texans, and it’s a 10-hour drive from Dallas.
Also, Florida’s state law, coming into effect after a legal back-and-forth, prohibits abortions after 15 weeks, with exceptions if the procedure is necessary to save the pregnant person’s life.
“This is closer and faster access for some people, particularly for working people that live in the southernmost part of these states,” Autry said.
“There’s been an assault on reproductive rights in our country, and I’m a lifelong advocate for reproductive health and choice. We have to create options and be thoughtful and creative to help people in restrictive states get the health care they deserve.”
Autry said her legal team believes there is a portion of federal water where licensed providers could safely and legally provide abortions out of reach of state laws.
The proposed clinic is at the early fundraising stages. Autry told NBC Bay Area that at least $20 million needs to be raised for the “comprehensive” all-in-one clinic idea to come to fruition.
“Part of the reason we’re working on this project so hard is that wealthy people in our country are always going to have access (to abortions), so once again it’s a time now where poor, people of color, marginalized individuals, are going to suffer – and by suffering I mean like lives lost,” Autry told NBC Bay Area.
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