There Have Been So Many Attacks on Abortion in North Dakota, Some Women Assume It’s Now Illegal
“We’re definitely hearing from women that they thought we were closed and that abortion is illegal,” the clinic’s director, Tammi Kromenaker, told the Associated Press this week. “Abortion is still legal in the state of North Dakota and we’re still here.”
Yet the number of abortions performed at Red River has declined significantly for the first time over the past decade. The state is on track to record a 15 percent drop in abortions since 2012. And the people who operate clinics in surrounding states, Minnesota and South Dakota, say they believe there’s been a recent increase in the number of women traveling there from North Dakota.
Connie Lewis, the spokesperson for Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, explained that this type of misinformation about what state laws are currently in place isn’t not uncommon following a highly-publicized battle over a new abortion restriction. Harsh anti-choice bills introduced in South Dakota in 2006 and 2008 had a similar effect, even though they didn’t become law. “It was a significant drop off and we did hear from people who said they weren’t sure we were open. It has leveled off some now,” she noted.
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