Where I provide abortions in Indiana, we very routinely have patients driving from at least 2 hours away and often 3-6 hours. Every time I meet a patient who has driven this long for counseling and consent, and then another trip for her abortion, I always say “I am so sorry you had to drive so far to access this service.”

And almost uniformly, the answer is “Oh, no, it’s totally fine, I am just really glad someone could help me.” Other than lifesaving medical treatments for myself, my spouse, or my children, I can’t think of ANYTHING I’d be willing to drive that much for. And yet, these women have seemed to totally accept that as normal as the price of reproductive freedom. But if these women lived in New York City, getting an abortion is nearly on par with a sprained ankle or a sore throat in terms of accessibility, and that is so amazing.

Yes, it is worse in many states and we are comparatively lucky, but either way I couldn’t help but notice a pretty stark contrast between accessibility in some parts of the country and our reality here in the red states.