(Image via newbedfordlight.org)
Volunteer Writer: Skyler Pereyra
Email: spereyra@umassd.edu
While Massachusetts is considered a pro-abortion state, the South Coast area is labeled an “abortion desert,” meaning “people do not have access to in-clinic abortion care within 50 miles.”
The closest place from UMass Dartmouth to receive an abortion is Planned Parenthood, located in Providence, Rhode Island.
Since that is out of state, most residents’ health insurance would not be accepted, leading many to drive over 40 minutes to the Four Women Inc. clinic or the Sturdy Memorial Hospital, both located in Attleboro, MA.
Considering the large population of the major cities on the South Coast, New Bedford with 100,000 and Fall River with over 90,000, abortion access should be offered at a closer proximity.
While traveling to these far-out clinics is an option, the South Coast boasts a large number of people who do not have access to transportation (immigrants with no license, people unable to take the day off to travel, etc).
According to data gathered in 2015 by The Women’s Fund of Southeastern Massachusetts and the UMass Dartmouth Public Policy Center, “a quarter of all women living in both New Bedford and Fall River are living at or below federal poverty levels.”
While this was almost ten years ago, the pandemic and economic issues going on in the country have only made women’s situation worse.
When asked about abortion access in the area, Juli Parker, the Director of the Center for Women, Gender, and Sexuality at UMass Dartmouth, explained that she is a part of a sub-committee belonging to Women’s Alliance called Bodily Autonomy whose “goal is to expand abortion access in the SouthCoast.”
However, despite their efforts, the South Coast hospitals seem unwilling. The committee has created an infographic that provides information and resources about abortion history and access.
Another group called “Our Bodies Our Lives Coalition” which was created in response to the fall of Roe v. Wade is also working hard to expand abortion access on the South Coast.
Gail Fortes, the executive director at the YWCA Southeastern Massachusetts who oversees the coalition and the Bodily Autonomy committee, explained that “Our Bodies Our Lives Coalition” conducted a survey of local agencies and providers which found that “no local organizations offered medication or surgical abortion services.”
However, they were pleased when Health Imperatives started offering medication abortion in July 2023 at all of their locations, including New Bedford!
Christina Monska, executive director of the Women’s Fund SouthCoast, explained that Health Imperatives also received a grant from the Reproductive Justice and Access Fund “to expand a day of services in New Bedford.”
She exclaimed, “They are the only organization in our community that is providing medication abortion and helping birthing people access in-clinic abortions in Boston, Providence, or elsewhere.”
While having access to medication abortion is a step in the right direction, it is generally only an option in the first ten weeks of pregnancy.
It is also considered a longer process because it usually involves taking two different prescriptions, heavier bleeding, and if incomplete requires follow-ups and other treatment.
That is why there is a need to expand access to all types of abortion, so women can have the options best for their bodies.
A scary component of this situation is that there is easier access to crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs also known as fake clinics) than abortion clinics on the South Coast.
According to Planned Parenthood, CPCs are “clinics or mobile vans that look like real health centers, but they’re run by anti-abortion activists who have a shady, harmful agenda: to scare, shame, or pressure you out of getting an abortion, and to tell lies about abortion, birth control, and sexual health.”
For more information about CPCs, there is a website that provides a locator for all of the ones located in the United States.
There is currently one located in New Bedford called Birthright and if you look through their website, their resources are in favor of childbirth and do not mention abortion as an option at all.
The New Bedford Light reported on the abortion situation back in 2022 and interviewed Helena DaSilva Hughes, the CEO of the Immigrants Assistance Center, who believes the reason access on the South Coast is so scarce is because of the “traditional religious beliefs of New Bedford’s ethnic groups.”
Gail Fortes wants people to know that the organizations and groups working toward more reproductive freedom are “in solidarity with advocates, leaders, parents, survivors of violence, allies, and everyone who believes that abortion is a fundamental right” and that they “continue to advocate at all levels of governments for safe, accessible abortion care.”
As efforts across the region are in full swing, there are still options for those seeking abortion services. For UMass Dartmouth students, the school offers referrals for medication abortion at the Health Services Office.
Make an appointment with them and they will be able to share information and provide a referral under the state guidelines.