Huge out-of-state surge in E. Washington abortions since Idaho, Texas bans

The number of patients coming to the Tri-Cities in Eastern Washington for abortions from Idaho has increased dramatically, according to data compiled by the office of Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.

In the first five months of 2022, before Idaho’s abortion ban took effect in August just two Idaho abortion patients came to the Kennewick Planned Parenthood clinic.

But in the first five months of this year, 91 patients from Idaho came to Kennewick. That’s 4,450% increase, according to data Cantwell’s office obtained from Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho.

In all, the Kennewick Planned Parenthood clinic saw 159 out-of-state patients so far this year, a 109% jump over the same months last year.

The clinic saw 575 patients total in those months for abortion services.

Some other eastern and central Washington Planned Parenthood clinics also saw more patients from Idaho.

For instance, Walla Walla patients from Idaho increased from one in the first five months of last year to 20 in the first five months of this year.

Data about abortions in Pasco was more limited, but Cantwell’s office reported that abortion patients there rose from three in January through May last year to 34 through May this year.

The Tri-Cities and Walla Walla are among the closest places offering abortions to Boise’s metropolitan area, where the five Treasure Valley counties are home to about 750,000 people.

“So far, we have been able to protect reproductive care options in the state of Washington,” Cantwell said. “But our health care system is coping with an influx of out-of-state women seeking medical care — including a 56% increase in abortion patients coming from Idaho to Planned Parenthood clinics in Central and Eastern Washington compared to last year.”

Some people traveling to Washington for abortion services from states that no longer allow them may be using a Washington address when they register because of fear of prosecution, given confusion about whether it is legal to cross state lines for abortions, according to Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates.

An increase in Kennewick abortion patients was expected after Texas banned abortions starting last July, before they were banned in Idaho on Aug. 25, 2022.

After the Texas law took effect, the first Texas patient arriving in Washington state for an in-clinic abortion went to the Kennewick clinic, said Paul Dillon, vice president of public affairs for Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho, in March 2022.

“If we are already seeing patients from Texas, we will see patients from Idaho,” he said then.

Doctors at UW Medicine have noticed that patients are not seeking abortions as soon as they did before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the precedent of Roe v. Wade just over a year ago, according to a report from Cantwell’s office.

“We have seen an increase in the gestational ages at which patients need abortion procedures,” said Dr. Sarah Prager, a professor and clinician at UW Medicine’s Department of Obstetrics and director of the Family Planning Division.

“This is usually due to increased barriers in getting care, especially if coming from another state,” she said.

In the months after the Supreme Court’s decision, UW Medicine doctors also saw a 10-fold increase in the number of people requesting sterilization procedures.

And they saw an increase in the number of people wanting to have long-acting contraception such as IUDs and implants removed and replaced, to make sure they have highly effective contraception in place for as long as possible, according to Cantwell’s report.

“The devastating results of overturning Roe v. Wade are clear,” Cantwell said.

19 states ban, restrict abortions

A year after the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overturning Roe v. Wade, “abortion bans or restrictions across half the states have stripped full reproductive choice from 25 million women, and many anti-choice activists are pushing for a nationwide abortion ban,” she said.

Nineteen states have passed laws to ban or severely restrict abortion, limiting access not only to abortion care, but also to pregnancy and miscarriage care, according to a national report distributed by Cantwell’s office.

Fourteen of those 19 states do not include exceptions for rape or incest.

Those most likely to be effected by abortion bans are people of color, according to the national report.

Since a draft of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision that would overturn Roe v. Wade was leaked in 2022, Cantwell has focused on legislation to support the availability of abortion and family planning services.

Legislation she has introduced or cosponsored includes:

• The EACH Act to allow federal funding for abortion services, including for Medicaid patients in Washington.

• The Let Doctors Provide Reproductive Health Care Act, which prevents doctors from facing prosecution from other states for providing legal abortions in Washington.

• The Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act, which would protect people from prosecution if they cross state lines to get an abortion.

In Idaho it has been a felony since May to travel with a minor to another state for an abortion, or help a minor obtain an abortion-inducing drug without consulting one of their parents or guardians.

Cantwell also joined Senate colleagues in reintroducing the Right to Contraception Act which would codify the right to use contraception into law.