Demand for abortions in Michigan doubles among out-of-state residents

[marmar]

(Detroit Free Press) They're coming to Michigan from Ohio and Texas, Tennessee and Kentucky. Some by car and others by hourslong bus rides or by plane. All seek to end an unwanted pregnancy.

The number of abortions in Michigan performed on out-of-state residents has more than doubled since the U.S. Supreme Court's June ruling reversing Roe v. Wade, leaving abortion access up to states to decide, said Paula Thornton Greear, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Michigan.

"In some weeks, our patient care teams at our health centers are serving triple the previous average," said Greear, who took the job leading the nonprofit just weeks before the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization created a nation with a patchwork of abortion laws that continue to shift as bans and restrictions are put in place and tested in state courts.

Dobbs abortion decision created 'a new reality for us all'

"If the previous weekly average was 18, the new average would be around 42 and sometimes as high as 58 in a week."

Out-of-state patients, she said, make up about 20% of the abortion care appointments at Planned Parenthood of Michigan's 14 health care centers. ...............(more)

https://www.freep.com/story/news/health/2022/10/05/abortion-michigan-out-of-state-residents-ohio-tennessee-texas-kentucky/69539316007/