"Fundamental to abortion care is … infrastructure," Marisa Falcon, a practical support organization expert, told CG on the threshold of a major winter storm expected to bring power outages, transit disruptions, and business closures to much of the U.S.
As of January 22, and charged by an Arctic blast of air, a potentially historic winter storm was set to hit dozens of U.S. states, from the Plains across the South and into the Northeast, with snow, ice, sleet, strong winds, and frigid temperatures. With power outages, transportation disruptions, and business closures expected across multiple regions, abortion access expert Marisa Falcon reflected on the impacts of a major winter storm in 2021 — and pointing to some unique remedies for today.
The 2021 weather event knocked out electricity for millions of people across Texas as temperatures reached below freezing for a period of days. Meteorologist Allison Prater told National Public Radio ahead of this most recent storm that the extreme cold wouldn't dip as low or last as long as it did five years ago. But as Texas Governor Greg Abbott readied emergency services this month, the impacts of 2021 seemed top of mind for many.
"As we prepare for what promises to be a chaotic weather event (to put it mildly), I keep thinking about the 2021 snowstorm in Texas that stranded abortion seekers in hotels for days on end, unable to get home," Falcon posted on LinkedIn — on the eve, happenstantially, of the anniversary of the now-overturned 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
"I'm sure there were dozens, if not hundreds, more I didn't know about," the co-founder of Apiary for Practical Support and the Abortion Mobilization Project wrote in the post. "It's about to happen again but more. Climate justice is reproductive justice."
Falcon's projects have aimed to improve access to abortion care through practical, tangible means, such as strengthening logistical support and coordinating volunteer opportunities. "Fundamental to abortion care is, possibly counterintuitively, infrastructure," the nonprofit management consultant told CG. This might include child care arrangements, meal provision, lodging, and transportation that, all together, help patients reach the care they need.
"Clear roadways, public transportation, and access to internet are necessary for people to get the information and access they need for their abortions. Creating a system of robust public infrastructure that would mean a snowstorm in Texas did not necessitate a full breakdown of basic amenities would go a long way in ensuring that people have care regardless of weather. This, of course, would be made even more possible by an expansion of local clinics and health care providers that offer basic abortion care. If you can drive an hour to a clinic, it's not as big of a deal if the airport is closed."
As rising global temperatures intensify storms and shift weather patterns, and as laws restricting access to abortion make obtaining care where one lives more difficult, solutions to climate-related barriers are likely to become of increasing focus for reproductive rights proponents not only in the U.S. but around the world.
In the big picture, addressing such barriers will require large-scale actions, such as meaningful moves away from planet-warming fossil fuel systems to clean energy. But more immediate measures could come in the form of mail-order access to medication abortion, funds for extended hotel stays, and, yes, loads of logistical assistance.
"No massive overhaul of public services will happen in the next 24 hours. This is where practical support organizations come in," Falcon said of the orgs that provide logistical and financial support to clients.
She went on to say, "The most helpful thing to do right now is ensure that these organizations have the resources they need to support their clients."
If the U.S. took over the resource-rich territory? "Paid maternity leave, gone. Free abortion, gone. Free birth control, medicine, etc., gone. Safety on the streets for women ... also gone," the former member of Greenland's parliament worried, in conversation with CG.
"Companies that fail to adapt … will lose market share," Emily Carey Perez de Alejo, executive director of the Maine-based watchdog group Defend Our Health, told CG.
"We are effectively trading the health of our planet and communities for misogyny," Brionté McCorkle, executive director of Georgia Conservation Voters, told CG.
The Guttmacher Institute's Candace Gibson spoke with CG about how water policy — not based on evidence of environmental harm & proposed across the US — could impact abortion. That's not to say all enviro policy is bad for repro rights. In France, Belgium, even the US, it may still help protect them.
