Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
This MLK Day, transform unjust systems through service
The theme for this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service is Cultivating a Beloved Community Mindset to Transform Unjust Systems. What better way for us to start 2023 than to continue to fight for our human rights and freedom from sex discrimination.
This year would have marked the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. However, the recent Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision by the Supreme Court tossed out the right to a safe and legal abortion that people who become pregnant have come to expect, and instead left these vital rights in the hands of each state to decide. This has resulted in unequal, unfair and unjust consequences for people who happen to reside in a state that now bans or restricts abortion access. The consequences are especially severe for low-income, Black, Indigenous and other people of color.
Imagine finding out you are pregnant and your partner all of a sudden disappears — and you are working full time in a low-income job. You already have two children and live in a state that has banned abortion. What do you do? Where do you begin? This is a common scenario for most patients that Women’s Reproductive Rights Assistance Project (WRRAP) serves.
Although abortion is one of the safest and most common health care procedures in the U.S., communities of color and those with low income face huge barriers when it comes to access and care.
Initially, the individual has to do research to find an out-of-state clinic and book an appointment. That is not always easy to do since many out-ofstate clinics are working hard to navigate a surge in patients. The person also has to look at taking time off from work, account for child care and be able to afford gas and/or travel expenses. Once the individual finds out the cost, which can range from $700 to $1,500, depending on the state, they then have to figure out how to pay for their abortion and any travel-related expenses.
At WRRAP, we have a streamlined system that allows us to work directly with clinics to provide the funding support necessary for a person seeking abortion care. We also work in solidarity with other funds that provide practical support, such as gas, airfare, child support, etc.
Since Dobbs, the need for these services has grown and we have continued to stand strong in our ability to fund patients from coast to coast. In fact, this past year, we pledged over $1.4 million to more than 6,000 patients, 38% of whom had to travel to another state for abortion care.
In recent weeks, the Food and Drug Administration has approved allowing retail pharmacies to dispense the abortion pill. This is a huge victory in terms of access and reducing the time it takes to have the pill delivered by mail. Yet, we know that not every pharmacy will move forward with dispensing pills due to the administrative barriers involved that most other medications do not require. So many pharmacies may not have the time or resources to offer the pills.
Over 67% of WRRAP’S funding is for patients in their first trimester, and having better access to receive the pills is key in helping patients get the care they need and want.
While we will always honor Roe, our movement is now stronger and bigger than Roe. The midterm elections are proof that people continue to voice their opinion that abortion is a common and safe health care procedure, and a decision to be made between a doctor and a patient — not any state or federal government.
This year, on the anniversary of Roe, we won’t be celebrating. Instead, we will be pushing forward to dismantle this unjust system and to ensure that all people have access to safe and legal abortions, no matter where they live.