Abortion Hollers

Drone footage of Downtown Marshall by Logan Clark

No one expected a hurricane to decimate several small mountain towns in Western North Carolina, including my hometown of Marshall. Preceded by an unseasonable heavy rainstorm, the hurricane pounded rain onto already saturated land and flooded the streams and rivers of Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee.

When the flood was over and the devastation made bare, I kept thinking how similar the flood was to the Dobb’s decision. The topography of the mountains is a similar comparison to the disparities in wealth, income, and access. A disaster (or disastrous legislation) can impact people in different ways based on their geography. For those living on the river in the path of the flood, the downstream of effects of Dobb’s can take away everything in an instant. The safety and security and beauty of living near the water is gone. Those who live higher in the mountains may experience some inconveniences, a tree down or a temporary loss of power., but they mostly sustained the storm and life goes on largely unaffected. They can look down at those living at lower elevations and say to themselves “Well, bless their hearts.” For those of us experiencing the impacts of Dobb’s that’s how it feels to us sometimes.

Luckily my family lives up in the holler and sustained minimal damage from the storm. While they feel immense gratitude for being spared the devastation, there can sometimes be a feeling of guilt when we see how are neighbors are suffering. Some have described this combination of feelings as “guiltitude.” Post-Dobbs, I have felt this emotion as I am grateful to be able to provide care (even with many restrictions), but my heart aches when I see colleagues in more restrictive settings.

In the South, we have observed many patients traveling for care and needing to overcome immense barriers to obtain care. In the year following Dobbs, 1 in 5 patients needed to travel for care. This article describes the chaos that Dobbs created in the South and how the lack of access to care created logistical nightmares for folks.

When we think about who seeks abortion care, one surprising statistic for people is that 60% of people seeking care are already parents. Here’s some data around who seeks care in the US from the Guttmacher Institute and will further dispel some of those myths.

In this episode we cover a lot of territory. We discuss ordinary abortions: Who seeks them? What barriers do they face? And we hear from two reproductive justice experts who discuss why centering those patients who didn’t have access before Dobbs as a way to improve care for all patients who need abortions. Having legal access to abortion care pre-Dobbs did not mean real access for people without the financial or logistical means to obtain care. As we rethink what regaining abortion rights looks like, centering access is key to making real progress for people. Listen here:

Keep an eye out for our episode listener guide later this week, where we’ll dive into the numbers and stories of ordinary abortions. For now, enjoy the episode and follow us on Instagram (@outlawed_the_podcast), Bluesky (@outlawedthepodcast.bsky.social), or TikTok (@outlawedpodcast).

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