Planned Parenthood to Open Mobile Abortion Clinic in Illinois to Provide Services to Neighboring States

To serve people from surrounding states that have prohibited the procedure, Planned Parenthood announced that it will begin operating a mobile abortion clinic in southern Illinois.

According to Associated Press, following the Supreme Court's decision to reverse Roe v. Wade, Illinois' three neighboring states, Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee, approved anti-abortion legislation. Planned Parenthood reported that more and more women travel to Illinois to get abortion services because of these limitations.

The frequency of abortion requests at the clinic's facility in Fairview Heights, which is barely 20 miles from the Illinois-Missouri border, has increased by 30% since Roe v. Wade was overturned. According to Planned Parenthood, the waiting period for an appointment increased from four days to two and a half weeks.

Planned Parenthood Mobile Abortion Clinic Will Operate Later This Year in Illinois

"Our goal is to reduce the hundreds of miles that people are having to travel now in order to access care... and meet them where they are," Yamelsie Rodriguez, President of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, told NPR.

The mobile clinic aims to start offering abortion services by the end of the year, including consultations and administering abortion pills. Although it will only operate in Illinois, where abortion is still legal, it can get much closer to the borders of neighboring states, making it more convenient for patients who would have to travel to get an abortion.

"It gives us a lot of flexibility about where to be," Rodriguez noted.

People from other states in the Midwest and South who cannot get abortion care in their home states come to Illinois after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last June. Planned Parenthood plans to offer surgical abortions after its first few months of operation.

Anti-abortion Organizations Disapproves Planned Parenthood Mobile Abortion Clinic

Laura Echevarria, National Right to Life Committee's spokesperson, described the mobile abortion clinic as "another grotesque demeaning of human life."

"Chemical abortions can lead to life-threatening complications," Echevarria noted. "Will women recognize those complications early enough to seek treatment?"

The CEO of the pro-life nonprofit Sidewalk Advocates, Stacy Smith, also expressed great dismay at the news that Planned Parenthood was "trying to maintain its bottom line by offering mobile abortions."

"This expansion takes advantage of pregnant women in crisis in states that now protect unborn children and their mothers from the tragedy of abortion," Smith told Fox News in a statement.

Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood officials said they might add more mobile units later. If the mobile abortion clinic idea is successful, it might be a component of a bigger plan to develop new ways to connect with people who need abortions.

The organization, Just the Pill, recently announced that it would also offer mobile clinic-based medication abortion care to residents of the Western and Midwestern regions.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: Planned Parenthood Launches Mobile Abortion Clinic in Southern Illinois to Meet Demand From States - From CBS Chicago