As more states restrict abortions, patients need help with travel costs

As more states restrict abortions², patients need help with travel costs

Transcript³

Dozens of organizations are dedicated⁴ to helping⁵ people pay for and travel to their abortions. If Roe⁶ v. Wade⁷ is overturned, these groups expect to become more indispensable but also more overwhelmed.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

If the Supreme⁸ Court overturns Roe v. Wade later this year, 26 states will likely outlaw⁹ most abortions. People in these states would have to embark¹⁰ on long journeys, sometimes across the country, for the procedure. Reporter Katia Riddle¹¹ brings us this story about an organization that helps people with this kind of travel.

KATIA RIDDLE, BYLINE¹²: The volunteers who staff Northwest Abortion¹ Access Fund say the work is a calling. And it's hard.

RILEY KEANE: It is exhausting. I am just, like, super wrapped up in their case. It's all I can really think about. My whole life is arranged around, I am getting this person their abortion.

RIDDLE: Riley Keane has helped hundreds of patients. She pulls up a chart on an iPad.

KEANE: You can see their intake¹³ is people that we haven't made contact with.

RIDDLE: It shows dozens of names. These are people who've called, looking for help.

KEANE: And after their needs are identified, they move into these relevant areas of the dashboard.

RIDDLE: Across the country, there are at least 80 funds like this one that help women with abortion costs. That's according to the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion rights research organization. Keane says for the patients they help, abortion is already out of reach.

KEANE: Technical legality is really not the question. The question is access.

RIDDLE: Many are homeless or struggling with mental health issues. Some are teenagers. Like the majority of people who have abortions, many of their clients are already parents.

KEANE: I think when people think about who's getting abortions, they don't think about people who already have families. They don't think about people who are pregnant for the third, fourth, fifth, second time and are already stretched to capacity.

RIDDLE: The organization dates back to the late '90s. It's supported largely through private donations. Last year, they helped close to 1,500 people, including a 22-year-old named Christine.

CHRISTINE: The price was just going up and going up and going up. And I was so stressed out.

RIDDLE: Christine asked to be identified only by her middle name. She hasn't told her family about this abortion. At nine weeks pregnant, she faced a common problem. She couldn't afford an abortion right away. She started saving. But the procedure became more expensive with each day that passed.

CHRISTINE: I was just crying - and crying and crying and crying - for a while. I felt so hopeless.

RIDDLE: Christine's 15-month-old son sits on her lap during this interview. She and her boyfriend are struggling to support one child. She works as a barista in Las Vegas and is on Medicaid. She found Northwest Abortion Access Fund when it was nearly too late to terminate this second pregnancy¹⁴.

CHRISTINE: My boyfriend and I couldn't believe, like, that anyone could be that nice.

RIDDLE: The organization helped to book her into a clinic in Seattle. Washington law permits later abortions than in Nevada.

CHRISTINE: Once we sat on the plane, I felt like everything was going to be OK.

RIDDLE: Total cost, including the procedure and the travel, was more than $8,000. She says she and her boyfriend never could have come up with that money. At no point did she question her decision.

CHRISTINE: I just told the baby from the get-go, I'm sorry, but I can't do it right now. Like, it's just - this isn't going to be best for anybody.

CHARLIE BROWN: And then over here - so patients start pretty much in this room by getting, like - this is some basic blood work.

RIDDLE: Dr. Charlie Brown works at the clinic in Seattle where Christine had her abortion.

BROWN: In recent years, people are traveling more and more to access care as more and more restrictions¹⁵ are imposed surrounding abortions.

RIDDLE: Brown says more than a third of his patients already depend on help from abortion funds just to get to his clinic.

BROWN: So everyone is kind of braced¹⁶ for what will happen later in the year with regards to the Supreme Court. If it happens, most of us won't be able to accommodate that additional demand.

RIDDLE: That demand is also worrying Riley Keane of Northwest Abortion Access Fund. Analysis from the Guttmacher Institute predicts that if Roe v. Wade is overturned, it would affect 36 million women of reproductive age. That's the number who live in a place where abortion would be outlawed¹⁷.

KEANE: We're seeing sort of a ripple¹⁸ spreading from this sort of stone that got thrown into the pond in Texas.

RIDDLE: Since Texas outlawed most abortions, Keane's been on the phone with a lot more patients from that state. She says it's given her a glimpse into a post-Roe world.

KEANE: We can't support everybody from every state in the nation if they have to travel to our service region to have a procedure.

RIDDLE: But, Keane says, she and Northwest Abortion Access Fund also can't bear the thought of turning anyone away.

For NPR News, I'm Katia Riddle.

(SOUNDBITE OF THE ACORN'S "RETURN TO BLACKNESS (FOR GB)")

1 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

2 abortions   

n.小产( abortion的名词复数 )；小产胎儿；（计划）等中止或夭折；败育

参考例句：

• The Venerable Master: By not having abortions, by not killing living beings. 上人：不堕胎、不杀生。 来自互联网
• Conclusion Chromosome abnormality is one of the causes of spontaneous abortions. 结论：染色体异常是导致反复自然流产的原因之一。 来自互联网

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 roe   

n.鱼卵；獐鹿

参考例句：

• We will serve smoked cod's roe at the dinner.宴会上我们将上一道熏鳕鱼子。
• I'll scramble some eggs with roe?我用鱼籽炒几个鸡蛋好吗？

7 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

8 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

9 outlaw   

n.歹徒，亡命之徒；vt.宣布…为不合法

参考例句：

• The outlaw hid out in the hills for several months.逃犯在山里隐藏了几个月。
• The outlaw has been caught.歹徒已被抓住了。

10 embark   

vi.乘船，着手，从事，上飞机

参考例句：

• He is about to embark on a new business venture.他就要开始新的商业冒险活动。
• Many people embark for Europe at New York harbor.许多人在纽约港乘船去欧洲。

11 riddle   

n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜

参考例句：

• The riddle couldn't be solved by the child.这个谜语孩子猜不出来。
• Her disappearance is a complete riddle.她的失踪完全是一个谜。

12 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

13 intake   

n.吸入，纳入；进气口，入口

参考例句：

• Reduce your salt intake.减少盐的摄入量。
• There was a horrified intake of breath from every child.所有的孩子都害怕地倒抽了一口凉气。

14 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

15 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

16 braced   

adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来

参考例句：

• They braced up the old house with balks of timber. 他们用梁木加固旧房子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The house has a wooden frame which is braced with brick. 这幢房子是木结构的砖瓦房。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 outlawed   

宣布…为不合法（outlaw的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Most states have outlawed the use of marijuana. 大多数州都宣布使用大麻为非法行为。
• I hope the sale of tobacco will be outlawed someday. 我希望有朝一日烟草制品会禁止销售。

18 ripple   

n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进

参考例句：

• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。
• The small ripple split upon the beach.小小的涟漪卷来，碎在沙滩上。