Content Warning: Topics of abortion and sexual assault are included in this article.

The Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe v. Wade on June 24 left treatment providers in trigger-law states fearful for the future of abortion access. Abortion is now banned in at least 13 states, including Texas and Oklahoma, and an estimated 66 abortion clinics shut down 100 days after the Dobbs v Jackson ruling which took away the constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy. The Tulsa Women’s Clinic in Tulsa, Oklahoma is one of these affected centers. In May, The New School Free Press interviewed Andrea Gallegos, then-executive director of the Tulsa Women’s Clinic and the Alamo Women’s Clinic in San Antonio, Texas, about abortion restrictions in Oklahoma and Texas.

Gallegos was at the San Antonio center, tending to a room full of patients the day Roe was abolished. “We had to sit down with patients and let them know what just happened and explain that we can no longer see them,” she said.  

Texas was one of the states with trigger laws that initiated an indefinite ban 30 days after the prospective removal of Roe. The same day the reversal was announced, Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a statement that Texas would revert to pre-Roe law – making abortion providers criminally liable. Consequently, Gallegos had to halt abortion procedures to prevent legal repercussions. 

“One of our patients that we had to turn away was a 13-year-old,” Gallegos said. “Minors often seek services.”

The Tulsa Women’s Clinic closed its doors to patients and staff in July. Now, Gallegos runs two new locations – one in Carbondale, Illinois, and another in Albuquerque, New Mexico. According to Gallegos, she moved her business to these states because they have comprehensive abortion rights. Both clinics are called the Alamo Women’s Clinic on a namesake basis.

Her former patients in Tulsa will have to drive seven hours to receive a safe and legal abortion in Carbondale. 

“It’s awful to ask anyone to drive that far, but we know patients will,” Gallegos said. ”We know that abortion bans don’t make abortions go away. They just create more hurdles for women seeking them. And we will have plenty of patients that will do whatever it takes to get there.”

The Free Press also interviewed Nancy Coryell earlier this year. Coryell is president of Roe Fund, an organization that financially and emotionally supports low-income Oklahomans seeking abortions, and the owner of two elective ultrasound studios. 

“A lot of people assume I am not pro-choice because I’m in the baby-viewing business,” she said. “I’m involved in all this because I think everyone should have access to health care. And abortion is health care. And nobody should have a baby they don’t want.”

Coryell was surrounded by sonograms of babies at work when the news broke. “I was crying and trying to keep my shit together,” she said. “And then as soon as we were through work, there was a big protest going on at our courthouse. So I headed down there and I spoke in front of the crowd.”

As of now, Roe Fund helps Oklahoma residents receive out-of-state abortions. Following Roe’s reversal, the program received an outpour of donations, primarily from Oklahomans.

“We’ve gone from an organization that had $100,000 a year – to an organization that’s gotten $650,000 of donations since May 26,” Coryell said.  

Roe Fund also promotes Plan C Pills, a website that provides contraceptive access to those seeking medical abortions. Founded in 2015 by a team of researchers, digital strategists, public health advocates, and social justice activists, the organization’s mission is to normalize the option of self-directed abortion pills by mail.

In states with abortion bans, it is illegal to have abortion pills mailed or prescribed to you in person or via telehealth services. Therefore, people have to get abortion-inducing pills through a telemedicine appointment in a neighboring state where abortion is legal. They then have their pills mailed to a P.O. box in the same state where they received their telehealth services. 

“We just spent $25,000 advertising Plan C Pills in Oklahoma,” Coryell said. “…we particularly targeted radio stations that low-income or no-income people listened to because that’s the population that needs help.”

Similar to abortion providers, birth caregivers have been forced to adjust to a post-Roe world. Aliyah Newman, a former Eugene Lang student, has been studying to be a birthing doula for a year and an abortion doula for roughly nine months. Although they cannot provide medical assistance, doulas are qualified to support pregnant people and their families before, during, and after the birthing process. Similarly, abortion doulas can assist individuals in the process of, or after receiving an abortion.

Newman left The New School to get directly involved with the reproductive justice movement. She took nine courses where she learned how to provide birthing individuals with informational, emotional, and physical support. She is now in the process of training to be a doula that specializes in abortion. This can vary from escorting someone to an abortion clinic to instructing laboring pregnant people on birthing techniques. 

Newman argues that Roe was not sustainable for everyone because there were restrictions in trigger law states prior to the reversal. Instead, she believes removing religious morals from the anti-abortion argument is imperative to create efficient and accessible abortions. 

“The only thing that matters is that people have the autonomy to choose what they need for their own bodies,” she said.

Anti-abortion protestors continued to demonstrate outside of the Tulsa Women’s Clinic until the center relocated, Gallegos said. Safety is still a concern, even after she moved the clinics to states where abortion is legal. “Protesters find you everywhere, whether you’re in an anti-state or friendly state”

Coryell is still hopeful for the future, despite state-wide abortion restrictions.

“I think we’re gonna get our rights back,” she said. “I think this is a human rights issue and I think there are enough women that are pissed off.”

She believes this can be done through a ballot initiative, similar to the one issued in Kansas. In August, Kansas residents voted against a proposed state constitutional amendment saying that there was no right to receive an abortion in the state. According to Planned Parenthood, the failure of the resolution prohibits a state-wide abortion ban. Kansas residents can still receive surgical and medical abortions without punishment.

“The goal at this point is to have a ballot initiative that will be on the 2024 election for Oklahomans to vote,” Coryell said. “…that’s one of the things we’re going to start spending our effort and money on – is make sure that people are going to vote.” 

While the fight for safe abortion treatment after Roe’s reversal may seem endless, Newman finds solace in providers’ and advocates’ tenacity. 

“I do have a lot of hope and respect and trust in people in this country,” she said. “Especially…in people who are working to provide abortions and to keep them accessible in one way or another.” 

Visit the Alamo Women’s Clinic GoFundMe to help cover relocation costs.