Arizona's abortion ban is likely to cause a scramble for services in states where it's still legal
Adrienne Mansanares expects a flurry of calls from patients in Arizona starting this week.
She’s the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, which has clinics that provide abortions in Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada. Mansanares said the clinics should be able to accommodate people who are seeking the procedure in the wake of an Arizona Supreme Court decision.
“That is still a very long way for patients to go for health care,” she added, noting that the clinics already have seen nearly 700 patients from Arizona since Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022.
Doctors and clinic leaders said there’ll be a scramble across the Southwest and West for abortion care due to Tuesday’s decision, which said officials may enforce an 1864 law criminalizing all abortions except when a woman’s life is at stake.
“People are going to have to start looking out of state,” said Dr. Maria Phillis, an Ohio OB-GYN who also has a law degree. “This is now another place where they can’t go safety to access care.”
