State Sen. Julian Cyr says the Cape and Islands don’t have adequate access to abortion.
Though abortion will remain legal in Massachusetts if the draft Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade becomes final, Cyr told CAI he wants to see access closer to home for people living on Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket.
“The nearest abortion clinics are over an hour away,” he said. “From my understanding, the closest locations are in Boston or in Attleboro.”
The restriction on federal funds is a major factor, he said, because hospitals and community health centers receive federal funding.
With limited exceptions, federal money can’t be used for abortion, so it’s not covered by Medicaid, the Indian Health Service, the military’s TRICARE program or Veterans Affairs.
“So this is not something that, say, one of our community health centers, or Cape Cod Healthcare, or Nantucket Cottage Hospital, or Martha's Vineyard Hospital, could sort of do right away,” he said.
A clinic in Hyannis that provided abortion closed in 2008, after a patient died when her heart stopped under anesthesia, according to The Cape Cod Times archives. The Times reported the clinic was performing about 80 abortions a month.
The anti-abortion group Massachusetts Citizens for Life lamented the fact that a potential overturning of Roe v. Wade will not outlaw abortion in the state.
“Unfortunately, abortions will continue to be available across the country in many places, including here in Massachusetts,” the group said in a written statement this week. “There will be much work left to do.”
