"The effect [of the COVID-19 outbreak] on people accessing abortion care is considerable, especially in those states that have limited access."

As we face potential quarantining, monthslong lockdowns, and social distancing, there is no question that people will have anxieties over potential interruptions to their abortion care and other reproductive health care.

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For continuing coverage of how COVID-19 is affecting reproductive health, check out our Special Report

With some U.S. cities on lockdown and businesses and schools shutting their doors, the COVID-19 virus is dramatically changing everyday life for people across the country, including those seeking reproductive health services.

In the face of potential quarantining, monthslong lockdowns, and social distancing, there’s no question that people will have anxiety over potential interruptions to their abortion care and other reproductive health care .

with the help of information provided by the If you’re like us at Rewire.News, you also have burning questions about how the coronavirus outbreak may burden those seeking abortions, or how it may impact our reproductive health system that has been undermined by the Trump administration. Dr. Diana Wu, a physician at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire and fellow with Physicians for Reproductive Health, a doctor-led national advocacy group, answered some of our most pressing questionsthe help of information provided by the National Abortion Federation

Rewire.News: How has the COVID-19 outbreak been affecting people accessing abortion care? Dr. Diana Wu: The effect on people accessing abortion care is considerable, especially in those states that have limited access. Patients seeking abortion care already faced so many barriers to access before the pandemic. As patients are now staying home from work, potentially losing wages, and watching their children, or who are home from school, or unexpectedly paying for child care, we know patients will have less funds available and less flexibility in their schedules to make it to the clinic for care. Many of these states already depend on doctors to travel and fly in to provide abortions. Some of these doctors have other jobs that are banning them from work or personal travel during the pandemic. These doctors and the clinics they travel to have to judge if it is safe and ethical to bring that doctor—even if they do not have symptoms—to a state with little abortion access. The doctor also has to judge if they are willing to risk their own health by traveling through the airport and flying in an airplane. In addition, staff at abortion clinics may also need to care for themselves, a sick relative, or children who have to stay home from school. The effect the virus has on a clinic’s ability to operate normally is substantial. Sex. Abortion. Parenthood. Power. The latest news, delivered straight to your inbox. SUBSCRIBE For states that have better access, they are still operating in a limited capacity to provide abortion care since many clinics are increasing visits for those with respiratory infections.

Is it OK to go to the clinic for a scheduled abortion? DW: Just like all other clinics, clinics that provide abortion care as a part of the full spectrum of reproductive health care are rapidly adjusting to the pandemic and its implications on social distancing in waiting rooms, using increased precautions for hygiene, and other measures to protect patients, staff, and health-care providers from becoming infected. For those clinics that are able, they are increasing their capacity to provide abortion by telehealth or removing requirements around abortion like in-person consent, ultrasound, and lab testing before an abortion to reduce patient contact. National Abortion Federation recommends these evidence-based changes for clinics providing abortion. This is impossible for clinics in hostile states that prohibit telemedicine or mandate multiple, medically unnecessary appointments. For example, in Texas a patient has to go to a clinic three separate times for a medication abortion. No one should have to risk their health or the health of their families by traveling on public transportation, wait in waiting rooms, or listen to a state-mandated scripts to obtain an abortion pill. Hostile states where people are punished for having an unplanned pregnancy now also put them at risk for COVID-19 given the extra travel and extra office visits. In the end, this endangers their families and communities, too, as it promotes spread of the virus.