This Map Depicts Abortion Access Across America and It's Really Bleak

Mother Jones (May 15, 2018): This Map Depicts Abortion Access Across America and It's Really Bleak, by Jackie Flynn Mogensen:

A new study published earlier this week maps abortion facilities across the United States.  The study found that 27 major cities are more than 100 miles from their nearest abortion provider and dubs areas in the South and Midwest as "abortion deserts."

For instance, residents of Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, and West Virginia are all limited to one in-state abortion facility, researchers from UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco found. The 27 “abortion deserts”—defined as major cities with populations over 50,000 where residents would have to travel 100 miles or more to get an abortion—include places like Chattanooga, Tenn.; Green Bay, Wisc.; and Springfield, Mo.

The worst major city for abortion access is Rapid City, South Dakota, where women must travel 318 miles to get an abortion.

The map reflects the fact that between 2011 and 2014, the number of abortion clinics dropped by 22 percent in the Midwest, 13% in the South and 6% nationwide.  This situation may only continue to worsen:

“As states continue to pass, implement, and defend restrictions on abortion,” the authors write, “it is possible that the number of abortion facilities will continue to decrease in those states with the most restrictions.”