Come Friday, Dr. Colleen McNicholas's abortion clinic, Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region, could permanently close due to a standoff with state officials over a lingering audit and license renewal issue. The shut down would make Missouri the first state to no longer provide abortions since the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision in 1973.
Planned Parenthood has announced it is filing a lawsuit against the state of Missouri in an effort to maintain abortion services. Dr. McNicholas spoke with ELLE.com about the dangerous ramifications of a state without abortions, and how Planned Parenthood plans to fight the potential decision in court.
For nearly a decade, I've been an abortion provider in Missouri. Today, I'm one of just seven providers working at the state's last abortion clinic—and we're at risk of being shuttered. If we're gone, Missouri will no longer have an abortion-providing facility in the entire state, and a million reproductive age Missourians will be without access to fundamental healthcare.
People should be worried and scared about this. It's frightening to think that we are potentially just two days away from living in a state where people cannot access basic reproductive healthcare—something that is safe and important and integral to human life.
This tactic is part of a larger trend we are seeing in this country to criminalize not only abortion, but also the people who are having abortions and the physicians who are providing that abortion. It's time we be on heightened alert that it's not just state laws we need to be fighting to correct this, it's also the political appointees running our departments of health. The process of ensuring safe, patient health care has become a weapon of political agenda—and it must stop.
Missouri is one the most restrictive and hostile states to access abortion in the country. We see up to 6,000 patients a year, and because we are the last remaining clinic, many of our patients already have to travel long distances to secure care, sometimes hundred of miles. They have an initial visit and consultation with the physician who will ultimately provide their abortion. But due to state regulations, they have to return home and wait at least 72 hours before driving hundreds of miles back to the clinic to get their care.
If we get shut down, we'll still be able to provide the same well-woman and well-men care as we did before, including STI treatment and diagnoses, but the state will specifically shutter our clinic's abortion provision.
There will certainly be some patients able to afford traveling to another state to get abortions, maybe nearby in Kansas or in Illinois. But those will be patients of means. It's never been a problem for people who have money to be able to access abortion.
For those who can't afford the travel, there's a strong possible they'll turn to self-managed abortion. History has shown us that people are very determined and creative when they know they don't want to be pregnant. There are a whole host of things that people may attempt, including using medications or trying to inflict physical trauma on their own body in an effort to self-induce their abortion.
If our license is not renewed, we'll continue fighting this in the courts and in whatever way we need to. I view it only as a temporary interruption in the services that we provide, with the intention of being able to provide services again soon.
No matter what happens, I'll continue to do everything I can to help patients access abortion care. Whether that means crossing state lines or partnering with other clinics who are able to take them in. I think Missourians deserve access to the same dignified and comprehensive care the rest of the country gets.
