With the leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion that would overturn the constitutional right to abortion established by Roe v. Wade, the future of abortion access in many states is uncertain. Without a clinic close by to obtain one, supporters of abortion rights say they expect to see patients increasingly opting for medication abortion, which can be done at home with a series of pills rather than having a surgical procedure in a clinic.
In Pennsylvania, the law allows abortion up to the 24th week of pregnancy. That won't immediately change if Roe v. Wade is overruled, although the state legislature could attempt to pass more restrictions. In neighboring Ohio and West Virginia, abortion rights would likely be eliminated if the landmark 1973 decision is overruled. That could mean an influx of patients from those states crossing the state line to seek abortions in Western Pennsylvania.
"It's very likely that people who are not able to go to a clinic in their state because they're all closed would be scrambling to find access some other way," said Sue Frietsche, senior staff attorney at the Women's Law Project, a nonprofit legal organization with offices in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
