Planned Parenthood of Montana has privately told staff it will no longer offer medication abortion to out-of-state patients, citing the changing legal environment surrounding abortion access.
The facility will no longer be providing medication abortions to patients residing in states where abortion is illegal, Planned Parenthood of Montana President Martha Fuller told employees in an email circulated last Thursday.
NORTH CAROLINA GOVERNOR SIGNS MEASURE PROMOTING ‘ACCESS TO REPRODUCTIVE SERVICES’
“The risks around cross-state provision of services are currently less than clear, with the potential for both civil and criminal action for providing abortions in states with bans,” Fuller wrote, according to the Montana Free Press. “This was a hard decision to make, and I want you to know that is based on protecting our providers and patients.”
Medication abortion typically involves taking two pills days apart to end a pregnancy. Abortion pills open up the possibility for out-of-state patients to take the second pills back in their home states, as “when and where you’ll take them depends on state laws and your health center’s policies,” according to Planned Parenthood.
Planned Parenthood, which operates several clinics across Montana, including in Great Falls, Helena, and Billings, will continue to provide surgical abortions to out-of-state patients.
“People are acting under conditions of extraordinary chaos and fear that has been instilled by where the Supreme Court has left us and by threats by anti-abortion politicians in some states,” Jennifer Sandman, the senior director of public policy litigation and law for Planned Parenthood, told NPR.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Montana abortion providers are bracing for an uptick in out-of-state patients as neighboring states enact abortion laws. Though abortion remains legal in Montana, bordering state South Dakota has made abortions illegal as a felony that is punishable by up to two years in prison unless an abortion is necessary to save the life of the mother.
