Saturday, June 24, 2023, marks the 1-year anniversary of the US Supreme Court ruling in the Dobbs case which reversed the long-standing Roe v Wade ruling in 1973. How has Dobbs and Missouri's quickly-implemented state ban on abortions impacted women in the St Louis region? KMOX's Total Information talked two people on both sides of this still highly charged debate.
"We've seen a 64% increase in the last 12-months with abortion-determined women, so that has been huge," says Kathy Lesnoff, the President and CEO of Mosaic Pregnancy and Health Centers in Granite City.
"We've also seen women coming from as many as 40 different states, have actually come across into the state of Illinois to obtain an abortion, so that's definitely huge as well."
Dr Colleen McNicholas, the Chief Medical Officer at Planned Parenthood St Louis, agrees with the trends cited by Lesnoff. " In this past year, we have seen what what I think is both predictable and preventable trends; significant number of folks traveling from outside their state to access care, jumping through more and more hoops. And the truth is actually, that the impacts have reached far beyond abortion care."
"We know that Missourians who are facing, for example, miscarriage and catastrophic pregnancy outcomes, are also having difficulty accessing very basic health-care, heath care that they deserve and is rooted in science."
