Three years ago, in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority enabled states to severely restrict abortion or ban it outright. Since then, 17 states have enacted such limits; infant and maternal mortality have risen in many of them. But the impact of overturning Roe v. Wade extends far beyond medical catastrophes. It also appears in the quieter struggles—a myriad of small, compounding barriers that stand between individuals and their access to health care. Here are some of the stories of people who have stepped up to do what they can to provide care, and some of the women who found themselves trapped in a system increasingly difficult to navigate.
I am in my 70s and I had an abortion before Roe v. Wade. I was living in Massachusetts. You had to go to the doctor to take a pregnancy test then. When it was positive, and the receptionist asked if I wanted to schedule prenatal care, I said, “No, I’ll go to New York,” because New York was one of the few places that had legalized abortion. The receptionist told me I didn’t have to, I could get an abortion in Massachusetts if I talked to a psychiatrist first, and they made getting an appointment easy. I was in my early 20s, about to start grad school, had just broken up with my boyfriend, and my father was dying. I never really considered carrying the pregnancy to term. These people at my medical practice did not judge me, but instead supported my decision and helped me implement it.
Later, after I married, my husband and I struggled with fertility. We adopted a baby, and then I found out I was pregnant. At 24 weeks, we learned that the baby I was carrying had a condition “incompatible with life.” In great sorrow, we chose termination, mostly because I had a 14-month-old and I couldn’t imagine going through the next three months pregnant and then losing a child. But again, I had so much support from my medical team.
Now I volunteer to provide housing, transportation, and emotional support to people who need abortions in the DC area.
One young girl stayed with me. She was 16, and her mother and younger sister came with her. But more often, I help people who are traveling alone—some don’t want their partners to know, and they feel really isolated.
One young woman told me she was overpowered by her boss at a work party. She felt like she couldn’t let her husband know that it wasn’t his baby. Another young woman was more like me: She discovered her baby would have had a severe birth defect.
A few people have kept in touch. One sends me holiday greetings every year. She has another baby now. Like me, she was able to finish school and choose her own path in life.
Because of my abortion, I finished law school and had a rewarding career. People have asked me why I do this, and whether I get paid. I tell them, “I do this because I’ve been where you are.”
—Anny, volunteer at an abortion Practical Support Network
