Racial disparity concerns heightened by rise in patients traveling to NC for abortions
Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Tina Marshall has noticed a change at a Charlotte abortion clinic.
On a Monday morning in July, clinic defenders and escorts held rainbow-patterned umbrellas to block out signs held by protesters showing cut-up fetuses. They yelled “murderer!” at patients pulling into the parking lot A Preferred Women’s Health Clinic of Charlotte.
The clinic typically draws patients who are Black and some who are Hispanic, says Marshall, the founder of the Black Abortion Defense League.
And the back and forth between protesters and clinic volunteers is typical for Marshall, who spends her mornings at local clinics about three times a week to help those with limited access to health care obtain abortion care in Charlotte.
But ever since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the situations have become more intense and the clinic parking lots are filling up. Marshall worries the strain on clinics will deepen racial disparities that already exist in health care.
The reversal of Roe v. Wade gave states the ability to make abortion illegal. The barriers to abortion access left in the new ruling’s wake could lead to more pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. — particularly among Black women, according to a report from research nonprofit Population Reference Bureau that publishes annual worldwide population data.
North Carolina therapist Veronda Bellamy said she’s seeing fear and anxiety in Black and minority women at an all time high.
“What we are seeing clinically is a genuine fear in minority women who’ve had their rights taken away, because for them, it’s more likely to result in death,” Bellamy said.
Charlotte women face new barriers to abortion
Black women are almost four times more likely than white women to die of pregnancy-related disorders, according to a report from the National Library of Medicine. Black women are also more likely to get an abortion due to historic unequal access to housing, education, jobs and health care.
Many of these present-day health disadvantages Black women face can be traced back to slavery, according to a 2021 report from the National Library of Medicine.
“White slave holders viewed enslaved Black women as a means of economic gain, resulting in the abuse of Black women’s bodies and a disregard for their reproductive health,” the report states. “Black women were forced to procreate, with little or no self-agency and limited access to medical care.”
The disadvantages accumulated across generations, and today 18% of Black North Carolinians are unable to see a doctor due to cost, according to the 2018 North Carolina Health Equity Report. This means when someone without insurance needs an abortion, they’re more likely to go to a clinic as they may not have an OB/GYN or primary care physician.
Other logistical factors to consider when seeking an abortion include transportation to and from a clinic or doctor’s office, child care, the ability to take off work and financial security.
Mel Graham, a full-spectrum doula in Charlotte who specializes in postpartum and abortion care, said the biggest challenge for Black North Carolinians is the financial burden. Abortion costs in North Carolina range from several hundred dollars up to $2,100.
Graham’s role as an abortion doula is to answer patients’ questions, access abortion pills online or assist with travel to clinics. But the newly added stress of packed clinics makes it harder to get an appointment, adding another barrier to the process, Graham said.
For North Carolinians, access has been diminished because people coming from states where abortion is now illegal are flooding clinics here. Earlier this month, residents from outside the state made up 60% of Charlotte’s Planned Parenthood abortion patients, according to Dr. Katherine Farris, chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic.
Statewide, nearly 40% of patient appointments for abortion care at Planned Parenthood clinics were from out of state in the first two weeks in July, mostly from South Carolina but some from even farther.
“One patient drove herself from New Orleans to Roanoke, Virginia, and another from Austin to Asheville,” said Planned Parenthood South Atlantic communications specialist Molly Rivera.
This is a notable jump in out-of-state patients. In June, North Carolina and Virginia Planned Parenthood locations provided abortion care to 95 people from South Carolina. Just two weeks into July, those same locations saw an increase in the number of patients up to 225 South Carolinians seeking abortion services, Rivera said.
South Carolina currently allows for abortions until fetal cardiac activity is detected, which typically occurs around six weeks. The law, which took effect June 27, replaced the state’s previous abortion law that allowed abortions up to 20 weeks.
And those same people coming from out-of-state now are incurring higher costs from travel expenses they did not have to face previously.
‘Terrorizing and harassing women’
At Charlotte clinics, Marshall said she often sees religious protesters targeting people of color coming to get an abortion because they assume they’re religious, too. They use “harassment” tactics, in Marshall’s words, to convince them to change their mind. They advertise fake abortion reversal pills on the public sidewalk outside of the clinic with photos of racially ambiguous people on the ads.
“They’re normalizing terrorizing and harassing women,” Marshall said.
Marshall said she’d like to see more Black Charlotte volunteers assisting her at the clinic and more involvement from Black churches and sororities to help patients feel supported.
The most important thing to Graham right now is to educate North Carolinians and destigmatize abortion.
“My mindset since the (Supreme Court) leak has been we’re gonna get it done regardless,” Graham said. “It’s still legal to get an abortion. We still have access to it.”
This story was originally published July 21, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
