Providing abortion for people who have to flee their states

An Illinois abortion provider has years of experience treating people who are forced to leave their homes to get abortions. With Iowa’s near-total abortion ban in effect, she and her staff are prepared to meet more Iowans.

Chelsea Sounder is one of the many physicians in the US who sees people who have been denied abortions.

As the co-owner of Hope Clinic in Granite City, Illinois—only a few miles away from the Illinois-Missouri border and St. Louis—Sounder said most of the clinic’s patients are people who aren’t from Illinois. 

For decades, she’s seen the difficulties American women have faced when they flee their home states to get abortion care.

“The amount of trauma people have to endure at this point to be able to get an abortion in this country is unfathomable,” Sounder said.

Hope Clinic has existed for 50 years and performs medication abortions and surgical abortions up to 27 weeks and six days into pregnancy. 

Sounder said many of the patients Hope Clinic sees have already tried and failed to get abortions in their home states because of “complicated restrictions or exceptions that are not workable.”

That now includes Iowa and its near-total abortion ban, which went into effect at the end of July.

Why Illinois?

Surrounded by states with abortion bans, Illinois is one of the first-choice states for abortion seekers in the region because it explicitly protects abortion. In fact, since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, Illinois has experienced the largest increase in people traveling there for abortion.

Access to abortion in Illinois is safe because the Illinois Supreme Court has recognized a fundamental right to abortion in the state constitution, and a 2023 law protects abortion providers, patients, and people who help others get abortions from out-of-state investigations.

April 2024 data from the Guttmacher Institute—a reproductive freedom research organization—show Iowans mainly go to Illinois, Minnesota, and Nebraska when they’re forced to travel for abortions. 

Numbers from the Iowa Abortion Access Fund—which helps Iowans with the financial resources they need to get abortions—show that requests for help have increased 7% in 2024.

Minnesota also protects abortion and has a shield law to protect providers and patients. States like Kansas and Michigan have protected abortion access as well, though they don’t have shield laws for travelers—laws that would protect travelers from out-of-state investigations.

Other research from the Guttmacher Institute shows that, as of December 2023, nearly one in five patients are forced to leave their states for abortion care.

Here to support patients

Sounder said the number of patients Hope Clinic sees has more than doubled since Roe was overturned, and the clinic has increased its staff of doctors, nurses, and advanced nurse practitioners by about 40%.

For the past several years the clinic has also established relationships with abortion funds across the country and learned a lot about navigating the complexities of different abortion bans and what patients have to go through to get to Hope Clinic.

“One of the biggest hurdles and burdens for most patients is trying to coordinate their entire life to get up and go for a couple days or a week,” Sounder said.

The top priority for the clinic, then, is to make sure patients’ needs are met, that patients understand all of their options—as well as the possible implications—and to make it as easy as possible.

“It’s stressful, but we feel really honored as providers to be a support system and to be able to provide people a space that feels safe and that they can kind of work through all of the traumas,” Sounder said.

No one at the clinic asks patients why they’re seeking an abortion. Sounder says it’s none of her business. But patients will often tell their stories anyway because they don’t have anyone else to talk to.

“It’s unfortunate we’re in the situation that we’re in, but we feel really prepared. And I think that we’ve shown that in being able to take care of whoever needs help.” she said.

Qudsiyyah Shariyf, deputy director for the Chicago Abortion Fund (CAF), said she has the same experience when she talks to people who are looking for resources.

“It’s not really tangible, the emotional support we provide. But just showing up with people, talking to people with kindness, with patience. Understanding that what they’re managing and trying to navigate is unreasonable—that affirmation goes a really long way,” she said.

The abortion fund coordinates with patients from all over the country and helps them with funding and travel needs. Shariyf said she wants to reassure people Illinois has the resources and the staff to support people who have to flee their states for abortion care, even if traveling is more complicated than it should be.

To get help, patients should fill out CAF’s online form or call it at 312-663-0338. A staff member at CAF will look at the request, and based on the information provided and how urgently you need help, they’ll call back with 24-72 hours and work with patients to get what they need.

Shariyf said they’ve helped patients as far away as Arizona and New Mexico, and it can be hard to listen to endless stories of people struggling—but it’s also rewarding to know they’re helping.

In fact, once patients return home, Shariyf said many of them call back to thank the CAF for all of the support when they needed it most.

“When we’re able to provide the support and affirmation in a world where abortion is so stigmatized, that does really stick with people,” she said.