Abortion providers face a complex interplay of questions about how to balance their own health, the need to physically distance, and the potential of COVID-19 to limit patients’ ability to travel for abortion services.
In Texas, abortion access is already threatened as a result of extreme anti-choice legislation—the barriers people face are compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The president and governors across the country are declaring states of emergency as the coronavirus spreads. And still, state-level Republicans are jamming through anti-abortion bills.
Telemedicine has long been a tool for increasing access to reproductive health care, even as lawmakers in some states ban its use for abortion care. It will likely be the best option during the COVID-19 outbreak.
COVID-19 is having a profound impact on family planning health services, including access to abortion care and birth control. Rewire.News remains vigilant in covering these developments.