The House Built for the Day Roe Falls

Abortion providers and advocates have been sounding the alarm for years that Roe v. Wade is in danger. Now, with an impending scotus decision that could leave swaths of the country without access, a group operating in the middle of red America is bracing for impact.

- By Caitlin Moscatello

Erin King scoots up to the operating table, where her patient is already situated in stirrups, a bright light beaming over both of them. How far did you have to travel to be here today? King asks, her voice calm and upbeat as she begins the abortion procedure. The 21-year-old woman stares up at the ceiling, gently gripping a nurse's hand. She says she and her boyfriend drove overnight from Oklahoma-two states away-and she had to take time off from her retail job. King shakes her head and apologizes that she had to make such a long trip, then tells her to take a few deep breaths. There is small talk; the Beastie Boys's (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party!) accompanies the beep, beep, beep of the monitor. Ten minutes later, it's over. When the patient is cleared to leave, she and her boyfriend get in their car to drive home. It will likely take more than seven hours.

King, a physician, is executive director at Hope Clinic for Women in Granite City, Illinois, just a short drive from the Missouri border-an old steel-manufacturing town in the southwest corner of a state that's now a blue oasis in the red center of the country. By March, Hope had seen a 20 percent increase in patients since the start of the year, many from more than 100 miles away.