A year after the Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to end a pregnancy, getting an abortion is more challenging. It is also more expensive.
The average cost of getting the procedure done now is as high as $1,400, according to estimates from a national organization that helps cover these expenses.
This is mainly because women pay more to travel if they live in states where abortion is now limited or effectively banned.
“As people are traveling farther and farther for care due to abortion limitations, we are seeing an increase in rates of access to care, whether it be for housing, car rentals — or when you travel. doing, paying for at-home child care,” Danica Severino-Wynn, The vice president of abortion access for Planned Parenthood FA told Yahoo Finance.
The costs began to skyrocket last June when the US Supreme Court ruled Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization That Mississippi may legally ban abortion after 15 weeks.
Protesters outside the Supreme Court last June. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Martin, File)
The decision overturned 50 years of legal precedent, which was first established by the court’s 1973 decision Roe v. WadeWhich protected the federal right to abortion.
It also handed over regulatory authority to the states, more than half of which have since outlawed or restricted abortion.
According to a study by #WeCount, in the nine months following the decision, abortions increased on average in states where the procedure was legal, while across the country, women traveled to get the procedure.
Some employers have committed to doing more to help employees access fertility care. In the days and weeks following Dobbs’ decision, 138 companies said they would cover some travel costs and other fertility benefits for workers who cannot access abortion facilities near their homes.
These include Airbnb (ABNB), Amazon (AMZN), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), META (META), Microsoft (MSFT), Starbucks (SBUX) and Walt Disney (DIS), according to the Yale School of Management’s Chief Executive Leadership Institute. Are included.
traveling from hawaii to maryland
Sera Sippel, interim executive director of the national abortion support organization Brigid Alliance, is seeing a direct increase in indirect costs from abortion.
Her organization helps women cover a variety of long-distance travel expenses, including airfare, car rentals and repairs, gasoline, hotels, food, medicine, and child care.
“On average, our customers travel more than 1,300 miles at a cost of more than $1,400,” Sippel said. “This is round trip, and does not include the cost of the procedure.”
The average airfare is $800, he said. The babysitting fee is $300, the hotel fee is $225, the local transportation fee is $100, and the food fee is $75.
One of Brigid’s clients, Sipple said, traveled 4,822 miles from Hawaii to Maryland to access abortion care. dobbs ruling.
Severino-Wynn cited data showing that for women who now have to travel to get abortions, the most challenging new financial shock is loss of wages and child care. She cited data that 75% of women who seek abortions are considered to be low-income.
“And we know that the majority of people who seek abortions already have children,” she said. “If you’re working in a job where you don’t get paid leave, things like not getting paid are also challenging. So the compound cost is definitely adding up.”
medical costs
The direct medical costs of abortion – such as consultations, examinations, laboratory tests, surgery or medication – have not changed significantly since the High Court ruling.
But they differ among states that still offer the process. They depend on the type of abortion — medical versus surgical — and gestational age, Severino-Wynn said.
Other variables are based on whether the patient has private insurance or Medicaid, and whether a particular state requires those insurers to cover abortion.
On average, Severino-Wynn said the cost of a first-trimester medication abortion from one of Planned Parenthood’s 49 U.S. clinics is $580 and can cost up to $800.
The cost of an in-clinic, or surgical, first trimester abortion ranges from $300 to $1,500. She said the cost of an abortion in the second trimester can range from $750 to $2,000.
looking for help
Baltimore resident Patricia Watson, a mother of two who terminated a pregnancy after the birth of her first child in 2008, said women who can’t afford the extra costs associated with an abortion are looking for financial help online. Have been
In response to a post on Facebook, Watson contacted a 27-year-old single mother from Florida whom she agreed to let stay at her home in May.
“I saw her children,” said Watson, who at the time of her abortion was earning $30,000 a year working for Maryland’s state government.
“She had to rent a car, pay for food on the street, and take time off work,” Watson said of the Florida woman. “Luckily she didn’t need any daycare, but she did need to pay for gas and more insurance because she needed more liability insurance to drive a rental car.”
Sipple of the Brigid Alliance described the current need for that type of financial aid as “limitless.”
Alexis Keenan is a legal reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow Alexis on Twitter @alexisweed,
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