The logistics of abortion

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Jul 22, 2022 View in browser   By Shia Kapos POLITICO illustration/iStock Happy Friday, Rulers! As you read this, I'll be heading downtown for the National Organization for Women's conference in Chicago this weekend. What should I watch for? Email me at skapos@politico.com . Thanks to Maya Parthasarathy as always for helping out. CHICAGO—For years, organizations have been providing logistical support for women seeking abortions — in particular helping patients from underserved communities, often from rural regions, arrange funding or transportation to get the procedure. Now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade , these groups are seeing their incoming calls spike, as people try to get access to the procedure in a country where fewer and fewer states allow it. Aborton is legal here in Illinois, which is seeing an influx of patients from surrounding Midwestern states, the South and even as far west as Utah and Arizona. One of those organizations is Midwest Access Coalition, MAC for short, which opened in 2015, offering, among other things, $50 gas cards for people to drive to an abortion provider. Its staff, all volunteers at the time, would help around 30 patients a year, mostly from Illinois. Then, Texas banned abortions and the organization started helping clients hundreds of miles away. A gas card wasn't enough. During all of 2021, MAC helped 800 clients. As of July 14 of this month, it had already hit that 800 mark. The organization now has five full-time employees on top of volunteers, and it's looking to hire more. "Time is crucial" when it comes to arranging an abortion, says Alison Dreith, a self-described abortion concierge. (Her official title is director of strategic partnerships for MAC.) Complicating the logistical process is a current backlog of patients, which means providers find themselves sometimes having to cancel appointments. After the first trimester, costs of abortion go up by the week. So a patient who secured funding for a procedure at week three might find themselves having to pay an extra $200 if the procedure is delayed to week five. Dreith also says finding childcare can be especially difficult. "Most people who get an abortion are parents already. We give money for babysitting, but they might be migrants or undocumented or English isn't their first language. They're in a community where they don't know anyone who can watch their kids. Abortion clinics can't have toddlers running around the clinic," she told me. The other challenge is travel. Many clients are so far from any Illinois abortion provider that MAC has to coordinate trips by bus, train, Uber and Lyft. Sometimes it turns to Elevated Access, a small airline started by volunteer pilots wanting to help people get abortion care. Larger abortion providers face the same challenges. In January of this year, Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri opened a first-of-its-kind Regional Logistics Center. The center was supposed to start up later this year, but the opening was moved up after Texas' ban saw more patients calling. The center is open during daytime hours and realized quickly it needed to have on-call after hours assistance for patients, too. "We're streamlining a process that was very piecemeal and making it a patient-centered solution," said Yamelsie Rodríguez, president and CEO of reproductive health services for Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri. Marisa Falcon, executive director of New York-based Apiary for Practical Support, a national organization that also provides travel and logistical support to abortion seekers compares the logistical work of lining up an abortion appointment to planning any kind of emergency trip, whether it's for work or family. "You need to take off a few days and the task list is long," from renting a car to getting a plane ticket to making sure your children are cared for. "That's stressful for anyone at any time. It's a lot of emotional work. It's all compounded when you're pregnant and you don't want to be — and you don't have the money to solve the problem."   Sponsored by Business Leader members of Women Rule: The Exchange: As inflation rates soar and disruptions to the global supply chain persist, all eyes are on the nation's economic recovery. But getting back on track in an inclusive and sustainable way is no easy feat. POLITICO Focus connected with members of Women Rule: The Exchange to learn about the strategies and solutions that will power an economy that benefits all. Join the Conversation.   That's not easy work for the logistics providers, and neither is navigating the new legal landscape. "There are so many changes to the laws that trying to keep up with all of that has been a logistical nightmare in and of itself," said Chicago Abortion Fund Executive Director Megan Jeyifo. "It takes deep logistical experience and a lot of training and a lot of one-on-one support. Our volunteer orientation process takes two to three months before you get on a phone with someone because of all the training that goes into it." The fear logistic crews in southern Illinois have is that a patient seeking an abortion won't be able to make the trek for an appointment. "Last week, an Arkansas patient couldn't find an appointment, so she self-managed," said Dreith, referring to taking abortion medication instead. "It was frustrating and exciting in the end that she was able to connect with an organization that supports people self-managing and that it was safe and worked." POLITICO Special Report Allen G. Breed/AP Photo " White House eyes limited abortion health emergency declaration ," by Adam Cancryn for POLITICO: "White House officials plotting the administration's post-Roe response are weighing a narrow public health directive aimed at safeguarding nationwide access to abortion pills, three people familiar with the discussions told POLITICO. "The Biden team has zeroed in on that authority in recent days. They consider it the most feasible of the White House's limited options for protecting abortion rights, and have concluded that it could have the most immediate on-the-ground impact while also quelling Democrats' demands for stronger action. "The proposal would rely on powers under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act reserved for public health emergencies to shield doctors, pharmacies and others from liability for providing abortion pills to people across the country — even those who live in states that have outlawed or severely restricted the procedure. "Prominent Democrats and reproductive rights organizations have pressed the administration to use the authority in the weeks since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade . And some White House officials have come to view it as a preferred alternative to the expansive public health emergency declaration favored by progressives, because it represents a more limited and better-targeted use of the president's executive power. "Yet such a move still faces deep skepticism from senior aides who are unconvinced it would survive the inevitable legal challenges, and who worry conservative judges will seize on any opportunity to further limit President Joe Biden's executive power."   The Women Rule series brings together rising stars, accomplished professionals, and women at the pinnacle of their careers to inform, empower and connect women across diverse sectors and career levels. Attendance to our quarterly in-person POLITICO Women Rule meetings, is by invitation-only. Join our interest list and learn more here .     " 'A uniquely dangerous tool': How Google's data can help states track abortions ," by Alfred Ng for POLITICO … " Indiana doctor moves toward suing AG who threatened to charge her over 10-year-old's abortion ," by Alice Miranda Ollstein for POLITICO … " The abortion law fight grows in Texas and West Virginia. Here's what you missed ," by Matt Berg and Olivia Olander for POLITICO " Meet the young woman at the head of the House GOP's first-term class ," by Olivia Beavers for POLITICO: "After less than two years in the House, Ashley Hinson's powerful allies in GOP leadership are already weighing how to elevate her — and by next year, she could be at their table. "The first-term Iowa Republican is hardly the first 30-something conservative woman to don the well-worn mantle of rising star in Washington. She may even take a similar path as another young House GOP leader: Two well-placed Republicans, speaking on condition of anonymity, see Hinson eyeing the conference chairmanship next year — but only if its current occupant, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), vacates the No. 3 spot for another perch. "While Stefanik made her name in the party boosting Republican women candidates, including Hinson, the Iowan brings a set of skills that line up nicely with the conference chair's messaging portfolio. A former journalist, Hinson has a reputation for strong media performances and a plate-spinning energy that at times sends her literally running from meeting to meeting. True to form, she deflected questions about her future ambitions. "'My priority is my district, so that's my focus,' Hinson said in an interview, before declining to get into a yes-or-no question about her interest in seeking the role. 'I'm focused on being a really good appropriator … and I am making sure that I am standing up for Iowa's priorities.'" " London Breed is beating the progressives. But is she actually fixing anything ?" by Jeremy B. White for POLITICO   Sponsored by Business Leader members of Women Rule: The Exchange: In the Round: A conversation with today's leaders.   Number of the Week Read more here. MUST READS Andy Wong/AP Photo " The 'aspiration gap': Why many women aim lower than men ," by Ekaterina Netchaeva for BBC: "The gender gap in pay, positions and even pensions for working women is well established, but research shows that a gender aspiration gap has also emerged in recent years. This is when women do not aspire to rise through the ranks in the same way as men do, and it could affect efforts to encourage more women to apply for leadership roles at work. … "At the moment, many women actually do not aspire to be leaders, according to research I completed with Leah Sheppard of Washington State University, US, and Tatiana Balushkina from the University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy. Our meta-analysis of research comparing men's and women's aspirations for leadership and managerial roles shows men are significantly more likely to aspire to leadership roles than women. We looked at six decades of research with a final sample of more than 138,000 US participants. We also created a simulation based on these results, which revealed that, in a company with eight hierarchical levels, the gender difference in leadership aspirations translates into having 2.13 men for every woman at the highest organisational level. "The difference in aspirations emerges around college age, according to our research. This is a time when many people gain their first taste of working life, through an internship or summer job, for example. We also found that industry matters. The gender aspiration gap can certainly be seen in female-dominated fields such as nursing and education, but it is much larger in more mixed and male-dominated fields, such as politics and business. "Even as the number of diversity initiatives has increased , especially in the last decade, our meta-analysis shows the gender difference in leadership aspirations has remained the same over the past 60 years. This could suggest that, either current diversity initiatives do not address women's concerns around these roles, or that the initiatives are too general and need to be more tailored to women's specific needs." " How You Feel About Gender Roles Can Tell Us How You'll Vote ," by Thomas B. Edsall for the New York Times " Intersex youths are also hurt by anti-trans laws, advocates say ," by Anne Branigin for the Washington Post   Sponsored by Business Leader members of Women Rule: The Exchange: As inflation rates soar and disruptions to the global supply chain persist, all eyes are on the nation's economic recovery. But getting back on track in an inclusive and sustainable way is no easy feat. Today, women are still finding themselves disproportionately affected by pervasive inequities when it comes to leadership, wages, and skills-building. Bridging these profound gender 'gaps' will be paramount to the country's ability to achieve sustained growth for the future. But where do we start? POLITICO Focus sat down with members of Women Rule: The Exchange to answer this very question. Click here to see what leaders had to say about the strategies and solutions that will power an economy that benefits all.   Quote of the Week Read more here.   Follow us on Twitter Katelyn Fossett @KatelynFossett   Follow us

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