Clinics were ready

California abortion providers have been planning for the end of Roe v. Wade for years and those efforts intensified when a draft of the Supreme Court's Dobbs ruling was leaked in May.

That has meant fundraising, hiring more staff, buying equipment like ultrasound machines and rearranging schedules and workflows to handle greater demand, Jacobson said. Planned Parenthood intends to open another clinic in San Bernardino County in January “to assist with patients coming from Arizona mostly,” she said.

Late last year, staffers at two Planned Parenthood affiliates — Arizona and Pacific Southwest — hammered out a plan. They knew the health centers in Southern California would face the greatest demand and wanted to coordinate.

A patient's pregnancy is confirmed in Arizona. Then, with medical records and ultrasound in hand, she is referred to clinics in California. It's up to the woman to decide how to proceed — but if she does, the plan is clear and well organized.

Besides Arizona, many women traveling to California for abortions come from Texas, where a 97-yearold abortion ban is on the books and lawmakers last year banned abortion from the moment of fertilization in a law set to take effect in late July.

In September, Texas banned abortions after a fetal heartbeat could be detected. After that, “patients from Texas were then leaving Texas (and) going to neighboring states seeking care, and there were limited spots in those states which pushed people further and further out (to California) in sort of a ripple effect,” Jacobson said.

Patients from Utah, Nevada and Idaho have come to the San Bernardino clinic, Jacobson said, with some hailing from as far as Missouri and North Carolina.

Because many women seeking abortions already have children, child care is a big obstacle for those traveling to California, Jacobson said.

“Some people cannot afford to leave their jobs or get time off from school to travel,” she said. “Some people