Abortion Access in a Post-Roe Era

By Agalby Morel

Landscape of access to abortions

Abortion access in a post-Roe era depends on the state that you live in, you may have to travel out of your state to get an abortion or pay to mail abortion pills to your state.

Minority women will be most affected by the reversal of Roe v. Wade and will bear the brunt of the burden. The barriers that will be caused by restrictions on abortions will create immense harm to vulnerable communities. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, people of color comprise 44% of Mississippi’s population, but 80% of women receiving abortions. Similarly in Texas, minority communities comprise 59% of the population and 74% of those receiving abortions.

In nearly all aspects of reproductive healthcare, Black people and people of color face poorer health outcomes. The long history of ongoing systemic medical racism and discrimination — including mistrust in the medical community, lack of access to high-quality affordable health insurance, inadequate education resources, negative experiences at healthcare facilities, etc — is exacerbated by further restrictions on abortion. With abortion outlawed, these women will likely have the hardest time traveling to distant parts of the country to terminate pregnancies or raising children they might struggle to afford if they are unable to get an abortion.

Where we can go from here

If you are in a state that has restrictions on abortions, you can still access abortion resources through neighboring states that allow abortions or travel to a different state to receive abortion care. For example if you live in a state like Texas, you can get abortion pills by mail and have medically-safe abortions at home by using online pharmacies that have abortion pill delivery services. You can also get aid access Telehealth, which provide abortion pill delivery services, basic virtual medical screening, and virtual clinician follow up services.

Plan C is a great resource for information about abortion pills by mail or and support to answer questions about self-managed abortion for your individual state. You can also use Abortion Finder which is a directory of trusted and verified abortion service care providers across the country.

Organizers are also calling on people to educate themselves about options for self-managed abortion — how people can safely take abortion pills from home — and on how to talk about abortion.

If you want to take action you canals donate to a local abortion fund to relieve the economic burden for people seeking abortions. You can also support an abortion doula, which is a support person who assists women during their abortion procedures by providing information on what the patient or client can expect before, during, and after their procedure. Doula training certifications are also available and provided by organizations like Birthing Advocacy Doula Trainings.