For the past ten years I’ve found myself staring at Google Maps whenever a U.S. state has passed another TRAP law making it harder for pregnant people to receive an abortion within their state of residence. I have also contemplated the day when Roe v Wade would fall and the United States would be divided into “Free States” and “Forced Birth States”, creating a 21-st century version of the Underground Railroad where people will have to travel to the nearest Free State to receive health care that used to be guaranteed by the US Constitution but no longer so.
Therefore, I have created a list of Top 5 border towns that are in dire need of an abortion clinic to serve the pregnant people of states that will soon lose (or basically already have) their constitutional right to choose.
Some locations may surprise you, others are no-brainers. Certain border cities like greater East St. Louis, Illinois already have two clinics to serve out-of-staters and therefore don’t need to be on the list.
This is the first story I am writing for the Daily Kos and it’s finally time to put years of contemplation into words. Here is the list of Top 5 Border Towns to Build an Abortion Clinic:
1)Clovis, New Mexico: It absolutely befuddles me why no clinic has been built here, especially after Texas passed HB2 in 2013 and the notorious SB4 in 2021. Clovis is the nearest border town to Amarillo, Lubbock, and the Dallas Metroplex with a combined population in the range of 15 million! Cannon Air Force Base is nearby along with the Oklahoma panhandle and Midland/Odessa (a noted abortion desert) at a manageable 3.5 hours away. A clinic should have been built here years ago. New Mexico has no mandatory waiting periods or parental notification/approval laws.
2)Galena, Kansas: This border town conveniently sits in the tri-border area of Oklahoma, Missouri, and Kansas. Oklahoma and Missouri have trigger laws that will take away the right to choose if Roe vs Wade is overturned. Thankfully the Kansas Supreme Court affirmed the right to an abortion in 2019 but that could be taken away in a special ballot measure on August 2nd. If Kansans affirm the right to choose, Galena will be the perfect location to build a clinic for it’s located 7 miles west of Joplin, MO and less than two hours away from Tulsa, OK. Kansas does have a 24-hour wait time but this first meeting does not have to be in person which is huge for out-of-staters.
3) Marshall, Illinois (population: 3,933): Why this small town? Because it sits close to the Indiana border along I-70, sixteen miles from Terre Haute, IN (metro population 170,943). More importantly, it lies within a four-hour drive from the major cities of Indianapolis, Evansville, Louisville, Cincinnati, Dayton and Columbus. Plus the college towns of Bloomington, IN, Charleston, IL, and Vincennes, IN, are all within a manageable driving distance. Kentucky has a trigger law and Indiana and Ohio are not far behind in prepping their own abortion bans when the Supreme Court overturns Roe v Wade. Illinois has no mandatory wait times and parental notification will end on May 31st!
4) Cairo, Illinois (population 1,733): The southernmost point of the Little Egypt region is literally the closest free town from the Midwest to the Gulf of Mexico! It sits at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers and EVERY state from this town to the Gulf has a trigger law (Missouri, Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana). It’s an absolute no-brainer that a clinic MUST open in the Little Egypt region to serve all the aforementioned states because many desperate folks will only have enough time to drive to this point for their appointments and back within one day. Illinois is by far the most important free state in the country when you look at everything surrounding it.
5) Carter Lake, Iowa: My favorite exclave in the entire world! Due to a 19th century flood, this Iowa town found itself on the west side of the Missouri River surrounded by Nebraska territory. People driving to and from Omaha airport notice that they will enter and leave Iowa territory within a span of 10 seconds. There is a casino too. What’s most important about Carter Lake is that the Iowa Supreme Court affirmed in 2018 that the state constitution guarantees a right to choose. The progressives on that court also overturned the state’s 72-hour waiting period. Iowa conservatives are trying to amend the constitution through a ballot initiative saying there is no right to choose in the constitution but it will take another two years at a minimum to pass it. I do realize a Planned Parenthood sits across the river in Council Bluffs, IA but Carter Lake is just too special because of its location right next to Omaha airport, allowing travelers to fly in and out in a day. Meanwhile, Nebraska conservatives are trying to call a special legislative session in case Roe v Wade is overturned to make abortion illegal in their state. The Dakotas have trigger laws which makes having a second clinic in the Omaha metro area all that more critical to the surrounding region.
Tomorrow I will write in detail about #6-10:
- Bristol, VA
- West Wendover, NV
- Cumberland, MD
- Blythe, AZ
- Mesquite, NV