Planned Parenthood to Launch Clinic-On-Wheels for Illinois Border Near States With Abortion Bans

St. Louis is among the regions that Planned Parenthood in Illinois will target with a clinic-on-wheels for abortion procedures without crossing state lines.

The planned mobile unit is a 37-foot recreational vehicle (RV) that will travel in Illinois along the borders of Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee, The Associated Press reported. Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24, all three states have outlawed abortions with few exceptions, but the procedure is still legal in Illinois.

The reversal of Roe v. Wade eliminated federal jurisdiction over abortion laws and left each state to determine its own laws on the issue.

“They can’t come into Missouri, so that’s not going to happen,” said St. Louis County Councilman Tim Fitch (R-District 3). “They could be on the border all they want as long as they’re in Illinois. They just can’t come into Missouri.”

If the traveling abortion clinic were to cross the state line from Illinois to perform the procedure in Missouri, it would be a criminal violation, according to Fitch, who voted against allocating funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to nonprofits to pay for travel and lodging for pregnant women seeking abortions outside of Missouri.

“Planned Parenthood is in a town called Fairview Heights and Granite City,” he said. “There’s one in both and they’re both 2 miles from the Mississippi River, which divides Missouri and Illinois.”

The Fairview Heights clinic in St. Clair County, Illinois, reported a 30 percent rise in patients since the landmark Supreme Court ruling, and the time it takes to schedule an abortion has increased from four days to nearly three weeks, according to Yamelsie Rodriguez, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri.

“The more abortions they provide, the more money they make,” Fitch told The Epoch Times.

Inside the RV will be two exam rooms, a lab, and a waiting room. Surgical abortions will not be performed right away. Only medication abortions will be offered to women who are up to 11 weeks pregnant.

The traveling Planned Parenthood program is expected to begin in a month.