US abortion support groups put on more public face

Patricia Canon drives poor rural Kentucky women to distant abortion clinics each week, part of a national army of volunteers who are growing bolder even as abortion foes ratchet up opposition to the activists they have branded as "accomplices to murder."

The Kentucky Health Justice Network, where she volunteers, is one of dozens of non-profit US abortion funds providing money for procedures or covering travel costs to help women obtain abortions, particularly in states where Republican-backed laws have narrowed options.

For years, such organizations kept a low profile to avoid being targeted by abortion opponents. But now, as abortion foes have succeeded in shrinking access, advocates are working harder to grow grassroots support and taking a more public stance.

The anti-abortion movement won a victory with the election of President Donald Trump, who has promised to appoint US Supreme Court justices who would overturn the Roe v. Wade decision protecting a woman's right to abortion. Critics of the decision say states should decide. That worries pro-choice advocates, including support groups in states where Republicans control legislatures.

"There is a volume and aggressiveness of anti-choice legislation and legislators who feel empowered by the administration," said Yamani Hernandez, executive director of the National Network of Abortion Funds, which represents 70 funds in 38 states.

Kentucky is a flashpoint in the national debate. The state had 17 abortion providers in 1978 but one today. It could become the first U.S. state without any clinics this fall, when a court will determine whether its anti-abortion Republican governor wins a licensing fight.

Anti-abortion protesters will converge on Louisville starting Saturday ahead of a week of demonstrations. Some have vowed to broadcast footage of abortions on an 8-by-16-foot "Pro-Life JumboTron" screen. In response, a judge has ordered a temporary buffer zone around the state's only abortion clinic.

Kentucky is not alone in making access to abortion tougher. There are six other US states with only one clinic each. The Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health think tank that supports abortion rights, said US state legislatures enacted 41 new abortion restrictions in the first half of 2017, even after a 2016 US Supreme Court decision struck down restrictive abortion laws in Texas.

Many more restrictions were proposed, ranging from waiting periods to 20-week abortion bans. The number of US abortion providers dropped from 2,434 in 1991 to 1,671 in 2014, according to Guttmacher data. This year, Iowa blocked abortion providers from receiving public money for family planning services.

-Reuters, Louisville