- If Roe is overturned,
it will be really challenging personally.
I don't know what the future would hold for me,
but I'm less worried about me
and I'm much more worried about all of the people
who I could have helped.
That's what keeps me up at night.
(disjointed orchestral music)
- [Narrator] This is Dr. Sarah Wallett,
an OBGYN with Planned Parenthood Ann Arbor.
She's one of the many abortion providers across the country
facing the possibility that her life's work
may soon become a felony.
After there was a leaked draft
concerning a Supreme Court case
that could potentially overturn Roe V. Wade,
abortion providers had no choice
but to rethink the way they provide care.
But Dr. Wallet and Planned Parenthood have been preparing
for this moment for the last six years.
We visited them in Michigan
to see how they handle current restrictions
and how they plan to pivot if Roe is overturned.
- Abortion care is really different than other healthcare
because when you cross state lines,
you have to follow really different rules.
In the states that I've provided abortion care,
there are different waiting periods,
anywhere from 24 hours to 72 hours
after receiving state-required information
before a person can actually receive an abortion.
Beyond just restrictions that impact patients,
there's often TRAP laws,
which are targeted regulations for abortion providers,
things like what size our hallways are
and what type of doors we have or lighting,
things that don't change how we provide care
but just make it harder because we have to focus our energy
on following all of these onerous restrictions.
- This packet right here is a resources packet
that we give to a lot of our patients.
The first page gives some description
about our 24 hour consent
that's required by the State of Michigan.
Our goal is to make sure that our patients are well informed
and know that they have choices
in regards to their decision.
- I think one of the biggest challenges we face
is being a Planned Parenthood.
Planned Parenthood aren't the only places
that provide abortion in Michigan,
but it's often our name
that becomes synonymous with abortion.
So we tend to deal with a lot of protest activity.
Our staff often deal with harassment,
getting yelled at, getting things mailed to their homes.
That doesn't happen in other types of healthcare.
- For us, we kind of have that startup mentality,
where you have to scramble all the time
and you're always pushing harder and innovating faster.
Except for we're not a new company
and we will kind of never escape that startup experience
because we will always have unfortunately
legislation surrounding abortion care.
Our daily struggles at Planned Parenthood of Michigan
are really similar to other organizations.
We struggle with staffing and training,
just like every other organization.
I think what is different than other organizations
are our patients that experience their barriers
are a lot different
than when a patient's trying to obtain a root canal
or their wisdom teeth removal.
There are no significant barriers to that.
- A few of the main hurdles
that our patients currently face, one of them is stigma,
the lack of family support, the lack of finances.
It is definitely an unexpected cost.
Whether you're financially stable or not,
it's not something that you expect to happen
and have to pay out of pocket.
We know abortion is pretty expensive.
- Following all of the restrictions
around abortion cares is lot of work.
It requires a lot of work for our team on the ground
to make sure that we are doing everything
that is required of us by law.
- [Narrator] Michigan is one of 26 states
that is likely to ban abortion if Roe V. Wade is overturned.
This is due to a 1931 law
that states any person who administers an abortion
would be guilty of a felony
unless it was for the health of the mother.
While this law hasn't been enforced since 1973,
an overturning of Roe
would immediately make abortion in Michigan illegal again.
Planned Parenthood, Dr. Wallett,
and State Representative Laurie Pohutsky
have all been working on several solutions
to ensure that doesn't happen
and that abortion remains legal in the state.
- In April, Planned Parenthood of Michigan
and myself filed a lawsuit
against the Office of the Attorney General in Michigan
asking the state to review the Constitution
and state that the Michigan Constitution
actually protects the right to abortion.
- The three ways that we're fighting
abortion criminalization here in Michigan are legislatively
with bills like the Reproductive Health Act,
in the courts with lawsuits
like the one the Governor has filed
against a number of prosecutors in the state
and the one that Planned Parenthood
and the ACLU have filed against the Attorney General,
and then with this constitutional amendment
which is currently gathering signatures
to get on the ballot.
Planned Parenthood had also asked
for a preliminary injunction,
which would basically prevent the law from being enforced
while litigation is ongoing.
And yesterday that injunction was granted,
so as of right now, until that case is concluded,
the 1931 law is not going to be enforced.
Making sure that access to abortion
is maintained here in Michigan is important,
one, just because people deserve bodily autonomy,
but it's also worth noting
there are patients that come to Michigan
from surrounding states to access abortion currently.
The Reproductive Health Act is also gender-neutral
because there's knowledge now
that it's not just women who need abortions.
There are non-binary folks.
There are trans men.
What we have seen
with other even non-abortion-related policies
that went into place in states
is businesses want to invest in them less.
And we've been having a lot of conversations in Michigan
about how to bring more people into the state.
The easiest way to undo all of the work
that we have done with those policies
is to implement policies
that make it less desirable overall, or even less safe,
for people to move to our state.
Michigan is a purple state, but by that same token,
it's certainly going to have some electoral outcomes.
- [Narrator] Since the leaked draft,
more women are following through with their decisions
to have an abortion,
causing abortion providers to be busier than ever.
Even with all their preparation,
Planned Parenthood is still adapting to provide care
to as many women as they can
before abortion may become illegal.
- We have had to pivot a lot over the last couple of weeks
because our demand for abortion has driven up.
Our patients are starting to worry
that they will be able to get a legal abortion one day
and then the next day it would be illegal,
so we are working day and night
to figure out how we're gonna help all the patients
who want and need an abortion.
The unfortunate reality is there are some patients
that we just aren't going to be able to see.
- Hi, this is Rachel calling from Planned Parenthood.
- We're working hard to figure out
what we can continue to do for our patients.
We know that even if abortion is illegal in Michigan,
patients will still need family planning care.
They'll still need birth control.
They'll still need testing
for sexually transmitted infections.
- In the event that Roe is overturned,
our doors will stay open.
Our services that we offer might look a little different,
we'll have to pivot,
but our patients are still going to need the other services
that we provide even more than ever.
We are launching gender-affirming care this year.
So we're still gonna be here for our patients.
- Sometimes I do get exhausted by all of this.
It's really hard work, it's emotional,
but this is work that I do
that I know makes a huge difference
in people's lives every day.
So coming to work, providing abortions for patients,
hearing their stories,
knowing how this has impacted their lives for the better
keeps me going.
(whimsical music)