At 6:30 a.m., she was at Minneapolis Airport, heading for Sioux Falls. And by the end of the day she will be back.
She is making this trip because no doctor in the country is willing or able to perform the procedure. “If there’s no one else who wants to do it, that’s what we think we need to do to give patients access to that care,” she said.
This is the reality of access to abortion in one of the most restrictive states in the United States, although Rowe v. Wade remains the law of the country. A 1973 court ruling ruled that abortions were constitutionally protected for up to about 23 weeks, when the fetus could live outside the womb.
But a draft Supreme Court ruling that expired this month suggests that even this limited access will end almost immediately in half of the country when judges come out with the expected formal ruling this summer. Twenty-six states have laws indicating that they intend to ban abortions if Rowe is repealed or significantly weakened, according to the Gutmacher Institute, and 13 states, including South Dakota, have “trigger laws” to ban abortions as soon as Rowe no longer is in effect.
Rowe can barely stay in states like South Dakota, Traxler said. If the law is reversed, the Supreme Court will hand down an “unfair” sentence to women there, she said.
“It is heartbreaking that this will no longer be available to them. “I don’t think access to abortion, health care and bodily autonomy should be the subject of debate,” she said.
But that day the decision is still a draft, and Traxler has a job at Sioux Falls.
The flight is less than an hour. A man in a black suit greets Traxler at the arrival gate: her guard. Instructed to take her safely to the clinic, he drives new routes each time to avoid being tracked down by abortion fighters and to avoid potential violent attacks.
Eleven patients are expecting Traxler at the planned parenting clinic. “They come from all walks of life,” Traxler said. They are women who are already mothers; who are pregnant for the first time; who are of different ages.
This will be the first of two state-mandated visits for each.
At their first meeting, women are required to undergo an ultrasound, read government-provided information that providers say is medically incorrect, and be offered alternatives to abortion. Each patient’s file is then stamped.
Seventy-two hours after that seal, and not a minute earlier, Traxler could perform the procedure or administer the pills.
At about 10 a.m., Traxler, sensing the ticking clock, hurried to the clinic and threw away her scrubs. “We want to see them, do an ultrasound, get an education so we can mark the time of their visit,” she said.
The two-visit rule is a cumbersome hurdle, Traxler said. But following these rules allows this only clinic in the country to provide safe, legal access to abortion.
Watering Roe
Hospital restrictions in South Dakota make it virtually impossible for local doctors to prescribe abortion pills or perform any abortion procedures and maintain their privileges of admission.
“(Local doctors) will either not do it because it is against their beliefs, or they do not feel safe to do it because of the atmosphere and climate in South Dakota,” said Misty, a manager at the Planned Parenthood Center who asked to be identified. only from her first name out of concern for her safety.
And telemedicine abortion appointments with drugs authorized by the Food and Drug Administration during the Covid-19 pandemic are not allowed in South Dakota. There are also strict rules for each abortion clinic, including obtaining an abortion facility license under South Dakota law. Other regulations “determine the size of treatment rooms (115 square feet) and recovery rooms (45 square feet) and dictate the types of flooring and lighting that can be used,” says Planned Parenthood.
The restrictions mean clinics and doctors simply can’t operate in South Dakota, Misty said. That’s why all other abortion clinics in the state have been closed, leaving some patients traveling for four or five hours in each direction to gain access to a doctor of their choice, she added. One patient traveled a total of 1,300 miles in both directions, according to Misty.
“We are here, we function, we see patients, patients with abortions. Our schedules are filled with weeks. But that doesn’t mean it’s available to anyone who needs it. Absolutely not, “Misty said.
Pledge from the governor
These abortion restrictions have been welcomed by Gov. Christie Noem, a first-term Republican who has vowed to make South Dakota the country’s most controversial abortion state.
The South Dakota Act has been in effect since 2005 and will immediately ban abortions, except in extreme cases where a woman’s life is in danger. But Noah supported the restrictions while in office.
In March, Noem signed a bill that would require pregnant women to make at least three separate trips to a clinic to receive abortion drugs – although the law will not take effect until a pending case is heard in federal court.
Approved by former President Donald Trump for his re-election candidacy this year, Noem is expected to serve a second term.
When the draft of Rowe v. Wade expired, Noem wrote on Twitter that he would “immediately call a special session to save lives” if the law is repealed. Earlier, in a January address to the state, Noah made it clear that South Dakota was eager to act if Rowe ended, with state laws “ready to protect every unborn child in South Dakota.”
If the Supreme Court’s decision follows an expired draft, Traxler’s days in Sioux Falls will be over.
“If the decision comes tomorrow, we will not be able to end their visit 72 hours later, we will have to call all these patients and inform them that they cannot be seen and have to go somewhere else,” she said.
Traxler’s efforts at the time would be to help South Dakota women travel to states that would still allow legal abortions through Planned Parenthood.
At 3pm local time, Traxler’s day ends. She has seen her latest patients and warned everyone about what the draft opinion means about their abortion.
The same security guard is waiting outside. Traxler changes clothes and grabs his bag to catch his flight back to Minnesota.
After 72 hours, she hopes to make this trip again to see her patients for as long as the Supreme Court allows.
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