Travel Aid for Out-of-State Abortions Is Already Drying Up

For months, thousands of people in surrounding states have traveled to Oklahoma to seek abortion care — that is, if they were able to get an appointment and could afford to travel. Now that local lawmakers have passed the harshest anti-abortion law in the country, they will likely have to travel even farther to receive care. Many won’t be able to afford the journey.

Before Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed the near-total abortion ban, funds to get out-of-state patients to Oklahoma clinics already weren’t enough to meet demand: One nonprofit operator said a fund specifically meant to support those in the state often ran out of money about halfway through the month. About 5,000 people got an abortion in Oklahoma in 2019, data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show.