Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties Medical Director, Dr. Janet Jacobson spoke to the governors involved with the Reproductive Freedom Alliance about the consequences of limiting access to abortion for people across the country. The Reproductive Freedom Alliance is a nonpartisan coalition of governors from 21 states committed to protecting and expanding access to reproductive health care in their states. At their inaugural convening on July 24 in Los Angeles, attending governors shared the progress and best practices for their respective states and reaffirmed their commitment to working together in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned last summer.
To better understand the challenges and barriers to care people are now facing, the coalition heard from health care providers from around the country who shared their unique perspectives on the subject. Dr. Jacobson was selected as one of the esteemed and respected voices in the reproductive freedom landscape and debriefed the coalition about the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision in Orange and San Bernardino Counties.
In the year since the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the constitutional right to abortion, PPOSBC has experienced an increase in out-of-state patients and has served over 470 individuals from 32 states. While it is disheartening that these individuals have to travel so far for care, PPOSBC’s Abortion Aid program has been able to provide travel arrangements, meals, and more to alleviate some of the added stress these individuals experience to receive the care they cannot obtain at home.
Providing first hand accounts of the ramifications of limiting and restricting reproductive freedom enforces how crucial it is that states where abortion is legal continue to be proactive and continue to protect access to reproductive health care. Not just for their residents, but for those who have lost their right to abortion in their home state as well.
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