Dylan Bettencourt
A doctor in California has proposed a way to bypass abortion laws in America with a floating abortion clinic.
Dr Meg Autry, who works on the Gulf of Mexico, said a ship in federal waters would be out of state reach allowing women with unwanted pregnancies in southern states to access the clinic.
Texas, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana all implemented abortion bans after the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade last month, limiting the access for millions of women.
Dr Autry said the medical industry has to establish creative methods to help women who want to abort.
“There’s been an assault on reproductive rights in our country. I’m a lifelong advocate for reproductive health and choice,” she told Associated Press.
“We have to create options and be thoughtful and creative to help people in restrictive states get the healthcare they deserve.”
The floating clinic is in the fundraising stage through a non-profit group that aims to protect women’s rights.
Dr Autry claimed that the proposals had the backing of lawyers who believe it would allow women to carry out safe abortions in federal waters.
“This is closer and faster access for particularly working people who live in the southernmost part of these states,” she said.
The Supreme Court ruling overturned women’s constitutional right to abortion that had been in place since 1973.
United States President Joe Biden said at the weekend that he is considering a public health emergency to free up federal resources to improve access to safe abortions.
Around 33% of women in the country struggle to get the pill on prescription, according to The Times and an American pharmaceutical firm has requested that they be permitted to sell contraceptive pills over the counter, adding that their request is not related to the Supreme Court ruling.
Image source: @UPMatters
