US: The long road to abortion

A pregnant woman looks at the ultrasound image of her unborn child in a New Mexico abortion clinic. Since the Supreme Court decision in June 2022, 14 US states have massively tightened their abortion laws. New Mexico has not, which is why many women from other states make the long journey to get an abortion without facing prosecution.

Alan Braid has been performing abortions since 1972, operating two women's health and abortion clinics in Texas and Oklahoma. His daughter, Andrea Gallegos, joined her father's work as clinic director in 2020. New legislation forced them to close the Alamo Women's Clinic, so they reopened in the states of New Mexico and Illinois instead.

Caitlyn is 19 years old and a mother of two. The restaurant hostess was terrified on the flight from Texas to Albuquerque, after being forced to leave her home state for a safe abortion. Her own mother strongly opposes abortions, but Caitlyn was determined not to have a third child "It would just be way too much," she said.

Mifepristone is the name of an oral abortion drug — a low-risk alternative to gynecological surgery for many women. In the United States, the drug is used in more than half of all abortions. Abortion opponents in Texas have already filed a lawsuit against the approval of the drug. The Supreme Court's final decision is still pending.

Andrea Gallegos still flies 900 miles (more than 1,400 kilometers) from Texas to Illinois just about every week to run the newly opened women's clinic there. The liberal abortion law in Illinois allows abortions up to the 24th week of pregnancy; if the mother's health is at risk, even beyond that. Soon, the 40-year-old will move with her family to Illinois full-time.

This police officer is admonishing abortion opponents outside the new abortion clinic in Carbondale, Illinois, after the protesters attempted to stop a patient's car in front of the clinic. The "pro-life" or "right-to-life" movement in the US assumes an unrestricted right to life for the unborn fetus from the moment of fertilization, and many members hold strict religious views.

Jen and her boyfriend also traveled 600 miles together by car to have an abortion in Albuquerque. With the help of family or independent counseling, women can make their own decisions, said physician Alan Braid. With his clinic, he wants to create "a safe place for women to come who have made the decision to terminate their pregnancy."