How COVID-19 complicated an already complex abortion access issue in the South

Tinsley is the co-director of Access Reproductive Care-Southeast, a fund that provides financial and logistical help to low-income women seeking abortion care.Starting in late March, legal battles ensued in Texas, Tennessee, and Louisiana, among five other states, over access to a service that medical professionals and reproductive rights advocates agree is an essential component to women’s reproductive healthcare.By April, all states had issued public health emergencies requiring the mandatory closure of schools, non-essential businesses, and the postponement of elective and non-emergency medical and surgical procedures to ensure that scarce personal protective equipment would not be diverted from hospitals during the emergency.However, in eight states, these executive orders did not make an exception for abortion services. The fund provides financial support for low-income women seeking abortion care and emergency contraception in Alabama, Mississippi and the Florida panhandle.“We have had people coming over here from Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana, overloading clinics, because they have no idea if they walk into a clinic in the morning if their state is going to come in with another rule,” Raven said. Each state has its own laws and regulations,” said Steffani Bangel, the executive director of the New Orleans Abortion Fund, a non-profit providing support for low-income women.Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order on March 22 requiring licensed healthcare facilities and providers to postpone non-essential and non-emergency medical procedures, including both surgical and medical abortions, which involves taking a pill.Three weeks later the order was challenged in a lawsuit filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights.