Here in New York, Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood can and will continue to provide abortion care because the health and well-being of our patients is our highest priority. No matter what. In the Capitol Region, UHPP health centers remain open and will continue to provide all the services we always have, including abortion.
The consequences of this devastating decision will fall largely on people who already face the greatest barriers to health care due to this country’s legacy of racism and discrimination, including Black, Latino, and Indigenous communities, people with low incomes, LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, and people living in rural areas.
It is our responsibility to step up in this moment and be ready to provide abortion care to anyone who needs it, no matter where they live because having access to abortion should not depend on your zip code. Our plan includes:
- UHPP hired an Abortion Navigator to assist patients who are traveling here from across the state or from across the country to help book abortion appointments, make travel arrangements as well as work with patients to pay for the care. We will work in conjunction and alongside abortion funds and other local and national grassroots organizations to ensure people can access care, no matter what.
- UHPP is building capacity to make sure that we have resources available to account for increased technology, staffing, wages, and appointment times needed to meet increased demand for services.
- UHPP is expanding our abortion care services to include the use of nitrous oxide to ease discomfort during the procedure, expand training for staff to increase gestational age at all three centers and invest in our metal health and wellness program.
- UHPP launched a patient reassurance campaign. Our community needs to know that UHPP is here for them through in person and telehealth appointments. We are advertising our locations, hours, and services through traditional and online marketing efforts and through outreach to our community through work with other local community-based organizations who reach traditionally undeserved populations.
- UHPP is continuing our work to reduce abortion stigma that is rampant in communities across the country including ours. Reducing stigma includes the language we use around qualifying “good” and “bad” reasons to obtain an abortion, acceptable term limits, and even the total numbers of abortion procedures a person “should” obtain over a lifetime. It is our goal to make sure our community knows that Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood is ready and able to provide abortion procedures regardless of any of these factors and that
the abortion procedures we provide are safe and legal to all who need them.