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A California doctor is planning to offer abortions on a "floating clinic" in the Gulf of Mexico to circumvent state bans on the procedure.
Around half of U.S. states are expected to ban abortions after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in a bombshell ruling in June.
To help expand access to abortion in a post-Roe world, Dr. Meg Autry is spearheading the launch of a ship named "PRROWESS"—short for "Protecting Reproductive Rights Of Women Endangered by State Statutes."
The plan is for the ship to act as a "comprehensive" reproductive health clinic with a full team of licensed health care providers offering surgical abortions up to 14 weeks, contraception and other care to patients living in states where such services are restricted, according to its website.
"Those in the most southern parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas may be closer to the coast than to facilities in bordering states where abortion and reproductive health care are available," the website states.
The vessel will be operated by an experienced captain and crew in federal waters so its activities "will not be restricted by state laws," the website says.
"Not only is this an innovative, different idea for surgical terminations, but it's also closer, and more accessible and quicker than other options," Autry told KCBS Radio.
Autry told NBC Bay Area that the ship will be able to legally operate in federal waters—which begin nine nautical miles from the Texas coast, and three nautical miles from the coasts of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi—but she anticipates legal challenges from those states. Her organization has sought help from lawyers to combat those anticipated challenges, she said.
Autry's aim is for the PRROWESS to provide care at little to no cost to poor and marginalized patients living near the Gulf of Mexico.
"Part of the reason we're working on this project so hard is because wealthy people in our country are always going to have access [to abortions], so once again it's a time now where poor, people of color, marginalized individuals, are gonna suffer—and by suffering I mean like lives lost," Autry told NBC Bay Area.
The plan is in the fundraising stage—Autry told KCBS Radio that at least $20 million is needed to acquire and retrofit a vessel as well as cover ongoing costs.
Newsweek has contacted Autry and governors in Texas, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana for comment.
About the writer
Khaleda Rahman is Newsweek's National Correspondent based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on education and national news. Khaleda ... Read more