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Home Arkansas Blog Biden to sign order to aid women traveling out-of-state for abortions. No...

Biden to sign order to aid women traveling out-of-state for abortions. No wonder. Anti-abortion advocates note fear in women seeking help.

President Biden will sign an executive order aimed at helping women who live in states like Arkansas travel to other states to seek abortions. From the Washington Post:

The travel-related provision in the order will call on Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to consider inviting states to apply for Medicaid waivers when treating patients who cross state lines for reproductive health services.

A senior administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to preview Biden’s actions, declined to share details on what a waiver would look like but said it would target low-income women served by Medicaid and help cover certain costs.

How long before Attorney General Leslie Rutledge rounds up some Republican cohorts to sue to block this? If Arkansas wants to treat women cruelly by forced birth without exception for minors, crime victims, a woman’s health or damaged fetuses, that’s its right, dammit. And if women don’t like it, they can just move to Kansas.

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And speaking of Arkansas women with unplanned or unwanted pregnancies, check this article from Arkansas Catholic, featuring comments from a so-called pregnancy resource center. These were established to talk women out of abortions.

Shelley Lewis of the Arkansas Pregnancy Resource Center told Arkansas Catholic that the center is seeing more women now that abortion is illegal in Arkansas and their attitudes have changed.

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“We’re seeing more women who are coming in who are abortion-minded, more so, even abortion determined,” Lewis said. “Not only is abortion on the table for them; it is their primary option that they are considering, more so than ever. They won’t really talk with us about options, make a lot of eye contact or make follow-up appointments.”

With the question of legality no longer on the table in Arkansas, the center is changing its approach to “build rapport.” It seems happy to have increased business from those actively seeking abortion. Before, she said, “We relied on chance, misdirection from Google or mostly divine providence — people accidentally walking in (thinking they were going to the abortion clinic next door).”

Now with these new customers, messaging has changed.

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“We don’t use the words legal or illegal anymore,” she said. “We use the words available and not available. With a term like illegal being used, it makes people close off to talking to anybody about what they’re actually considering. When it was legal in Arkansas, people were more apt to talk about it because they didn’t fear any kind of retribution. But now, they’re hearing the term illegal and all of the sudden it makes them not only feel ashamed of what they’re choosing but that they’ll be prosecuted in some way, even though that’s not true.

“They’re afraid if they tell you that you might have to report them in some way. It put up a wall between us and our clients, so we changed how we discuss options in the counseling room.”

I would be afraid as a pregnant woman to open up to operators of these centers. Though women are not targeted for prosecution — yet — people who help them in sometimes impossible situations are at risk.

While touting the support such operations can offer women, not including abortion, Catherine Phillips, the diocese’s protect life director, conceded there are gaps that parishes and others could help fill. Such as mental health counseling, which would cost money. She also said:

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“Really comprehensive prenatal care, that’s not something that pregnancy centers really provide,” she said. “I hope to see more of a focus from our parishes, which have always been great partners and supporters. Women with an unexpected or challenging pregnancy need a welcome where they feel they’re not alone. They need empowerment, but they also sometimes need transportation, childcare or resources. We really need to surround these women with the help and support they need.”

Indeed. Prenatal care. Transportation. Child care. Food. Clothing. Shelter. These are in far less supply for hard-pressed families than fake medicine — abortion pill reversal, to name one offered by these centers — and anti-abortion propaganda.

Don’t look for the state to step in to fill these needs. Tax breaks for the rich come first.

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