Abortion is still legal in all 50 states, but between mandatory waiting periods, parental notification laws, and a dearth of providers in many areas, access is not exactly easy. Many women have to leave their city or state to get an abortion, so finding safe, affordable overnight lodging is another barrier–and some antiabortion groups are working to make it even more difficult.
Last October, antiabortion groups launched an e-mail campaign against the Clarion Hotel in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, after LifeNews.com reported that it offered discounted rates to out-of-town women getting abortions at a nearby clinic. RH Reality Check (Nov. 18, 2008) observes that, within four days, enough antiabortion activists had “voiced their values” to the hotel’s corporate office that the Clarion revoked its discount.
Local businesses may yield to the power of frenzied extremists, but abortion funds across the country still offer lodging support to traveling women.
