Abortion providers are accustomed to being under siege, but the coronavirus pandemic and its accompanying political attacks have further eroded their ability to provide an essential health care service.
found that just 14% provided abortions, even though 97% had patients who saught the service—there is a heightened sense of obligation felt by those who do this work. Simply put, if they don’t show up to provide abortion care, no one else will, and their services are needed now more than ever.
“People have been very scared when they’ve called us,” Dr. Diane Horvath, an ob-gyn and abortion provider in Baltimore, tells. “We get multiple calls a day from people who wonder if we’re open, who are worried that their abortion is going to be canceled. We’ve had a bunch of people call to reschedule to a sooner appointment because they’re concerned about where things are going in the next two to four weeks, and they want to get in as soon as they can.
So much regarding COVID-19 and its social and financial ramifications remains unknown. But what is known is: They’re more likely to face financial hardship, more likely to experience pregnancy complications, and more likely to experience depression, and the children they already have are more likely to suffer. It is this knowledge, even amid so much fear and uncertainty, that propels abortion providers to do what they’ve always done: Show up, fight for, and care for their patients.
“My mom called me yesterday, and she begged me—begged me—not to go to work,” Villavicencio says. “She said, ‘Please, tell them I’m sick. Tell them you’re sick. Tell them you can’t go. They’re going to need doctors when this is over, and I can’t lose you.’ And I was sobbing because it’s not easy for me to go to work—I’m scared. I’m scared of hurting my family. I’m scared of hurting my husband. I’m scared of hurting other people.
“But I got into medicine because of my desire to help people, and I specifically got into obstetrics and gynecology and abortion caregiving because it’s a moral duty,” she continues, her voice cracking. “I am compelled by the deepest part of my soul to help people in times of need.”
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