A California physician plans to supply abortion providers to ladies in Southern states reminiscent of Alabama, through a ship that operates as a floating clinic in federal waters off the Gulf Coast, in keeping with information experiences.
Dr. Meg Autry, an OB-GYN in San Francisco, goals to lift about $20 million for the undertaking generally known as PRROWESS, or Defending Reproductive Rights of Girls Endangered by State Statutes.
“The undertaking is being funded with philanthropy and the sufferers care is on a wants foundation, so most people pays little to nothing for providers,” Autry stated in an interview with NBC Bay Space.
Autry, who’s additionally a professor on the College of California, San Francisco, stated the floating clinic will present surgical abortions as much as 14 weeks, contraception, on-site testing for sexually transmitted infections and extra.
Her purpose is to supply reproductive providers to ladies in states with legal guidelines that ban abortion, restrict the process or make it laborious to entry. A staff of licensed medical professionals would workers the clinic for about three weeks per thirty days, in keeping with Autry’s plan.
PRROWESS hopes to accumulate a donated boat, Autry stated, that may be reworked right into a floating clinic. Cash raised by the undertaking additionally can be used for ongoing prices reminiscent of affected person care, safety and legal responsibility insurance coverage.
Autry stated she’s been pondering the thought of a floating clinic for years, however her plans have been “accelerated” by the U.S. Supreme Courtroom’s overturn of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.
“I’m a lifelong educator, an abortion and reproductive rights advocate,” Autry stated in an interview with KCBS, a San Francisco radio station. “And I strongly, strongly imagine in equitable well being care, and so this has simply type of been my life’s work.”
The clinic, floating in federal waters within the Gulf of Mexico, wouldn’t be topic to abortion restrictions in close by states, in keeping with the FAQs on the PRROWESS web site.
As a common rule, federal waters start 9 nautical miles from the coast of Texas, and three nautical miles from the coasts of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi. Sufferers will likely be transported to the ship in varied methods, relying on the gap, as soon as they cross a pre-screening course of.
For ladies in search of abortions in Southern states, a visit to the floating clinic could also be simpler than touring to different states the place abortion is authorized, the PRROWESS web site says.
“Our analysis signifies that sufferers are keen to hunt care in a floating clinic, and these kinds of amenities have been utilized by the army and reduction organizations for years,” the PRROWESS web site says.
Though Autry and her staff say their plans for the floating clinic are authorized, they anticipate backlash and authorized challenges from states which have banned or restricted abortions.
“We now have a really highly effective authorized staff,” Autry informed NBC Bay Space. “I’m positive there will likely be authorized boundaries and issues at each a part of this journey.”
