new owners of Illinois abortion clinic prepare to expand to serve women from other states

[Demovictory9]

New owners of Metro East abortion clinic prepare to expand as Supreme Court decision looms


Three longtime pro-choice advocates took over operations this month of the Hope Clinic for Women in Granite City. The new owners include a 40-year veteran of abortion advocacy, an expert in maternal and child health, and an executive who has spent decades trying to make abortions more accessible in the Midwest.

The sale comes at a crucial moment for the Hope Clinic. If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that established a constitutional right to abortion, the procedures would be further restricted in many states, and more patients would likely travel to Illinois for care. The Hope Clinic and the Planned Parenthood clinic in Fairview Heights together may see thousands of additional patients each year if the court issues such a decision.

Julie Burkhart, one of the new co-owners, said on Tuesday that the facility is already seeing higher volumes of patients, and is looking at how to increase capacity.

“We are working on ramping up now,” Burkhart said. “We want to be as prepared as we can be.”

https://www.stltoday.com/business/local/new-owners-of-metro-east-abortion-clinic-prepare-to-expand-as-supreme-court-decision-looms/article_2af24932-8b78-5a09-87ca-ca5684bd721a.html

Burkhart’s career in the movement began with a summer job during college at the front desk of the Wichita Women’s Center in Wichita, Kansas. She worked there in 1991 during the “Summer of Mercy,” when anti-abortion protesters flooded into the city by the thousands.
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Burkhart said her work has been motivated by strongly held beliefs that people must have agency over their bodies.

“If we don’t let people decide when they’re going to become a parent, if they’re going to become a parent, how big their family might be ... I just feel very deeply that that person, then, does not have complete freedom,” Burkhart said. “People can be trusted with these decisions.”

[roamer65]

1. That's gonna piss off MO Repukes.

I love it.

[nycbos]

2. Missouri has been restricting reproductive rights for awhile,

Illinois has long been a destination for women from Missouri seeking abortion access. More so under Governor Pritzker because before the horrific Supreme Court decision Illinois has taken steps to codify abortion access. We have been preparing for this for a while here.