Whole Woman's Health adapting to new challenges
Amy Hagstrom-Miller has had to deal with local and federal threats to abortion access
(Amy Hagstrom-Miller, founder and CEO of Whole Woman’s Health)
As has happened historically, most eyes within the abortion rights movement are looking at what will happen in Texas in the next few months to figure out what will take place across the country. It’s possible that a federal judge could order the Food and Drug Administration to take the abortion pill off the market.
In November, the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine and several other antiabortion groups filed a complaint that challenged the FDA’s authority in the matter. The judge at the center of the case is Matthew Kacsmaryk for the Northern District of Texas. President Donald Trump appointed Kacsmaryk, who had worked in conservative legal groups before assuming office.
Abortion medication typically depends on a two-pill regimen. The first, mifepristone, may be banned.
Abortion providers in nearby states that once existed in Texas and elsewhere have developed contingency plans should Kacsmaryk rule against pro-choice allies. Amy Hagstrom-Miller, founder and CEO of Whole Woman’s Health, spoke to Repro Rights Now about that case and other developments within abortion care.
“We're not happy about that. We think people in America should have access to the highest level of medication,” Hagstrom-Miller said. “And we shouldn't have to use a secondary protocol just in order to be able to provide abortion care to our patients.”
Whole Woman’s Health has also had to cope with the challenge of relocating to nearby states. In New Mexico, they’ve had a difficult time constructing prospective clinics because many electricians, plumbers and construction crews don’t want to deal with the harassment that may come from partaking in its building.
They’ve dealt with antiabortion activists attempting to pass local regulations that would prevent abortions. Even in states where abortion access is protected, the threat from a conservative county or local government is tangible.
According to the Associated Press, anti-abortion ordinances, adopted over the past several months by officials in the cities of Hobbs, Clovis, Eunice, and Lea and Roosevelt counties, reference an obscure U.S. anti-obscenity law that prohibits the shipping of medication or other materials intended to aid abortions. Those antiquated regulations, known as the Comstock Laws, were the same ones that Margaret Sanger and early birth control crusaders fought against.
“Now that they've banned abortion in Texas, it seems like they're trying to go over the border and try to see what they could do in a place like Mexico,” Hagstrom-Miller said. “It's I think it's a trend we should look out for.”
Funding has been a challenge for Whole Woman’s Health as has been maintaining the workforce it had before its clinics closed. The latter aspect is something that has been ignored by many within the media.
“There's highly trained, dedicated clinic staff, from counselors to medical assistants, nurses, and doctors who have been put out of work just because of this new legal situation,” Hagstrom-Miller said.
Whole Woman’s Health runs the Wayfinder Program to help women arrange travel or to help with other needs getting abortions. It began during the COVID pandemic, expanded during SB 8 and now is administered nationally. They answer phones and try to help people find a path to a place where abortion is legal.
“So many of us are solidly in human rights work,” Hagstrom-Miller said. “Access to safe abortion is a human right. And when people are denied the health care they need, it's a violation of people's human rights.”