On Wednesday, September 1, a near-total abortion ban went into effect in the state of Texas, outlawing abortion past six weeks gestation—before most people even know they’re pregnant. Given pre-existing anti-abortion laws that already made it difficult for Texans to access abortion care—including a 24-hour mandatory waiting period, mandatory counseling, and targeted restrictions on abortion providers (TRAP) that previously shuttered over half of all abortion clinics in the state—many will now have to travel out of state to receive the healthcare they need. As a result of this latest law, the average one-way driving distance to an abortion clinic in Texas has increased 20 fold, from 12 miles to 248 miles, according to the Guttmacher Institute.
But people have been traveling to receive abortion care long before Texas’s abortion ban went into effect. Six states have only one clinic providing abortion care left, and one 2017 study published in the journal Lancet Public Health found that 1 in 5 women nationwide have to travel at least 43 miles to receive abortion care. The same study found that half of all women living in Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota lived more than 90 miles away from the nearest clinic, and 20 percent of women living in the state of Alaska would have to travel more than 150 miles to access abortion services. At least six states, including Mississippi, Indiana, Arkansas, and Florida, plan on adopting Texas’s 6-week abortion ban, which would force even more people to travel out of state for abortion care.
Through We Testify, an organization dedicated to the leadership and representation of people who have abortions, we connected with four women who have traveled great distances for such care. They shared the multiple barriers they had to overcome, how much their journeys cost, and an intimate glimpse inside the overall travel experience.
Sharon, 26, from Texas
Sharon was 19 when she found out she was pregnant. An international student from Honduras studying in Florida, she initially thought it would be best for her to go back to Honduras to have the procedure, despite it being illegal there—at least she would be in her home country. After deciding to seek abortion care in Texas, she wound up at a fake crisis pregnancy center, where a person posing as a doctor told her that she was 28 weeks pregnant. In reality, she was 31 weeks pregnant. An actual health care clinic properly dated her pregnancy, then helped her find a clinic in New Mexico. The procedure cost $12,000, a plane ticket was $600, and she had to find a way to pay for accommodation, ground travel, and food. She had four days to get to New Mexico. Sharon asked that her last name be omitted to protect her privacy.
“That entire weekend [before my abortion] I started calling abortion funds. From Friday to Sunday the funds helped me raise $8,000. So I called a clinic in New Mexico and they said they could help me and I could pay the difference with payments. Then I had to find a hotel and a plane ticket—something I also couldn’t afford. Thankfully, a fund said they’d pay for that, too.
I was by myself [in the U.S.], and I was scared to go to a different state. I arrived in New Mexico at 11 p.m. at night. A friend had lent me $100, and that’s all the cash I had with me. The shuttle to the hotel didn’t pick anyone up that late, so I called a cab, and I was really scared because the driver was a man. I was just praying to god that nothing would happen to me.
When I got to the clinic it didn’t seem like a clinic and I got more scared—it looked like a normal office. But I met a girl from Honduras, my home country, and I felt a bit more comfortable. She didn’t speak English so I was translating for her, and we both were scared so we decided, ‘Let’s take care of each other.’
When I was flying back I felt the stigma—my mind was like, ‘Everybody knows why I went.’ But people didn’t know, those stories were just in my head. I also felt grateful and relieved. At least I had my abortion—that’s the important part.”
Maleeha Aziz, 27, Texas
Aziz was 20 years old when she found out she was pregnant in 2013. A well-meaning family member referred her to a fake crisis pregnancy center for a free ultrasound, where they falsely told her that a medication abortion was so dangerous that it was outlawed in the state of Texas. Panicked, she found a clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado, that would help. A different family member paid for the entirety of her abortion care, including the medication abortion, airfare, rides to and from the clinic, and lodging—$1,600 in total.
“I went to the Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs—the same Planned Parenthood that was attacked a few years later. We were calling clinics the night before I left. I left early in the morning to go to Colorado, so I didn’t take any comfort items—my partner, who was with me at the time, and I just took some clothes and basic items. I was really sick, so I didn’t pay too much attention to packing.
I do remember buying a bottle of water at the airport. Water made me throw up, so I went to the deli and bought a bunch of lemons and squeezed them into the water and kept taking little sips so I wouldn’t get sick on the plane.
At the time, my then-partner was very helpful and supportive, so I was really appreciative of him going with me. It was helpful to have a support person; someone who could call the Uber or Lyft, move my hair to the side when I was throwing up, tell me where to go, shield me from the protesters [outside the clinic], and just be there for me emotionally.
The doctor gave me the first set of pills [at the clinic] and told me that my voice is the only choice that matters; my decision is the only decision that matters; the protesters don’t matter; nothing else matters.
I went back to Texas and took the second set of pills there. It took about seven and a half hours and my body expelled the pregnancy while I was surrounded by loved ones. They brought me food and candy, heating pads and sanitary napkins, and all the things that I would need.”
Valerie Peterson, 42, Nevada
In 2015, Valerie was living in Austin, Texas, when she found out she was pregnant at 36. She was thrilled about the pregnancy, but at 16 weeks gestation was told her pregnancy was non-viable. Multiple ultrasounds confirmed a fetal diagnosis of holoprosencephaly—a brain development abnormality that keeps the brain from properly dividing into right and left hemispheres and causes severe skull and facial deformities. Facing a high risk of miscarriage as well, she was given three options: carry until she miscarried, carry to term and give birth to a stillborn, or have an abortion.
“I was devastated, and the first thing my aunt told me was, ‘You got to get the hell out of Texas.’ I agreed, but I didn’t know where to go and I didn’t know what to do. So I called another friend who knew of a facility that helps people who have to terminate because of a fetal abnormality.
Without even thinking, I got a ticket to fly to Orlando. At the last minute it was very, very expensive. Then, I got a hotel room in Orlando because my plan was to stay there for a couple of days just to make sure everything was okay, and for me to get to the ocean, because the water gives me peace. I had to rent a car to get to the clinic because I wasn’t comfortable being in an Uber.
I flew into the Orlando airport, but I had a stop in Miami where I had to change flights, and the cheapest ticket of course was at night. I will never forget getting off the plane [in Miami] and realizing that my gate was far away and also learning that the tram wasn’t working. My window to make my connection was very tight, and I saw everybody from the flight running—that was something I couldn’t do. I got on that flight with two seconds left before they closed the door.
If I didn’t have a friend who traveled with me, I don’t think I would have survived the trip. You can imagine the mental anguish, the emotional anguish, and she was just so supportive—that’s what I needed. She gave me time. She also allowed me to mourn. That will be forever etched in my heart, especially knowing she was Catholic. She actually said she needed to rethink [her views on] abortion after she experienced it all with me.
That whole process, including the price of the abortion, cost me over $5,000. While I had the funds to travel like that, and quickly, one of the first things I thought was, ‘What about everybody else who doesn’t have the means I have?’”
Beth Vial, 27, Oregon
Beth was 22 when she found out she was pregnant. Diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Symptom (PCOS) as a young person, she was told she’d never experience regular periods and would never get pregnant without the help of medical intervention. She didn’t consider pregnancy until she realized her stomach was distended. She received a false negative on a pregnancy test, then went to what she later realized was a fake crisis pregnancy center for a free ultrasound, where they told her she was 16 weeks pregnant. Uneasy about the people working there, she went to a local hospital, where they told her she was actually 26 weeks pregnant—a 10-week difference. Unable to find anyone willing to provide abortion care that late in her pregnancy, Beth was forced to travel to Albuquerque, New Mexico, for care. She had 10 days to come up with $10,500 for the procedure itself, and additional funds for airfare, lodging, food, and travel to and from the clinic—a total cost of $14,000.
“A friend of a friend had gone through something similar and had received help from a family member—together, they helped me pay the $6,000 deposit for the abortion procedure. Between that loan and two separate abortion funds I was able to pay for travel, funding, logistics, and rides. I wouldn’t have been able to afford any of that if it hadn’t of been for financing through the clinic, people chipping in, and the abortion funds, especially from the Religious Coalition of Reproductive Choice. They would get to my hotel at 6 a.m. every morning, pick me up, take me to the clinic, stand in the way of the protestors—every single morning for a whole week—and bring me food. It was incredible, because I had no money and no real support, and I was actively losing money spending a week away from work.
I had never been to New Mexico. In fact, I had only been out of the state a handful of times because I was pretty young and trying to go to college. So I went down and spent a week there from start to finish, going through what is [called] a D&X procedure. I traveled over a thousand miles and took a week off work and didn’t really get to leave my hotel room.
I brought coloring books and stuffed animals—anything of comfort and things I normally wouldn’t bring with me on vacation. My friends made me a little care package, too. They gave me socks to wear when I was in the clinic, little things to keep me distracted, and some of my favorite foods. They wrote me a nice card, too. It was really sweet.
Driving from the airport to my hotel, I got to see how beautiful New Mexico is, but I didn’t get to enjoy it much. The first day I got to walk around a little bit and look at the beautiful art. But I would love nothing more than to revisit the city—Albuquerque has a very soft place in my heart. Every person who worked the clinic was so kind, obviously, but even the people at the Starbucks and even the people at the pharmacy—they didn't know how much love they were giving me at that moment.”
To help those traveling to seek abortion care, especially people in Texas, you can donate to The Lilith Fund, Texas Equal Access Fund, and the National Network of Abortion Funds.
