"Respect existence or expect resistance!", refers the organization. PRROWESS on its websiteled by San Francisco gynecologist Meg Autry, which seeks to bring reproductive care services to southern U.S. states as well as provide abortion services on a ship sailing in federal waters.
Also a board-certified obstetrician at the University of California, San Francisco, Mount Zion Women's Health Center, she envisions people from states with restrictive abortion regulations and bordering the Gulf of Mexico being able to obtain needed reproductive health services.
While he was already working on bringing the project to life, with the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Autry said his plans were accelerated.
In a interview with NBC Bay AreaAutry noted that people living in southern parts of states with restrictive abortion regulations, such as Texas and Louisiana, are actually closer to the coast than to nearby states with more access to abortion. In addition, it is less expensive to get on a boat than to buy a plane ticket to another state.
"It's my life's work," he told the media outlet.
"Part of the reason we're working on this project so hard is because wealthy people in our country are always going to have access ?to abortions, so, again, now is a time when poor people, people of color, marginalized people, are going to suffer, and by suffer, I mean lives lost," Autry said.
In an interview, he noted that the vessel will operate in federal waters, nine miles off the coast of Texas and three miles off the coast of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, where it can circumvent those states' abortion restrictions.
He also mentioned that PRROWESS will be in charge of transporting the patients to the ship, which will vary according to their origin, once they have passed a prior selection process.
Once on the ship, Autry said that she and a team of licensed medical professionals will provide surgical abortions up to 14 weeks of pregnancy.
PRROWESS will also offer other point-of-care gynecological services, such as testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections.
"The project is philanthropically funded, and patient care is needs-based, so most people will pay little or nothing for services," Autry stressed.
PRROWESS notes that it is committed to providing a safe haven for individuals in states where their rights are severely impacted by legislation that limits their access to reproductive health care.
The organization stresses that no matter how overly harsh measures targeting reproductive rights become, "together we can and will reassert control over our bodies and lives."
It should be noted that the project solicits donations that can be made directly through its website to continue its goal of providing access to reproductive health to those whose bodily autonomy has been restricted.
Once they reach the goal necessary to begin operations, Autry said they will put the captain, crew and medical team on board to set sail.
Autry and his team maintain that the process is legal in federal waters. However, they expect the states to oppose it at every turn, which is why they have already tapped several lawyers to assist them in the mission.
The project expects to be operating in the Gulf of Mexico for approximately 3 weeks of each month, with flexibility built in depending on demand, weather conditions and vessel maintenance.
He specified that, if the floating clinic project does not come to fruition, the remaining funds will be distributed to other projects that address abortion access.
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