Sonoma County health care providers could see out-of-state residents seeking abortion services

Friday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade brought shock and heartbreak to Dr. Erin Lund, maternity care director at the Santa Rosa Family Medicine Residency.

Lund, who is also associate program director of Santa Rosa’s storied training ground for young doctors, said the landmark ruling also triggered an unsettling feeling for the future of health services in America. With the court’s elimination of the constitutional right to abortion, states across the country now become battlegrounds over women’s reproductive rights.

“It’s shocking and heartbreaking, something I never anticipated seeing in my lifetime or my career,” Lund said.

She expects in the coming days and weeks to receive calls from patients asking how the court’s decision affects their reproductive health options. She said she’ll reassure them that abortion services are still protected in California, and the state’s leadership is likely to further bolster reproductive rights.

In overturning Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court essentially left it up to state legislatures to decide to what extent, if any, they would restrict abortion.

“We’re fortunate to live in a state that’s very committed to protecting reproductive choice and the full range of reproductive choice options for patients,” she said. “But what this means is that there’s a lot of patients in other states, women in other states who aren’t going to be able to access those (services) safely in their communities.”

Lund said she expects to see an influx of residents who live in states where abortion is going to be further restricted. It’s unclear how many will come to Sonoma County, she said.

“The ability to have appropriate and safe medically necessary care is going to be basically very restricted for a large portion of patients in this country,” she said. “We’ll likely see some uptick in patients seeking abortion care.”

During a press conference Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said there were nearly 34 million Americans of “reproductive age” living in 26 states that are likely to further restrict abortion. Newsom said “tens of millions of dollars” in grants would be distributed among 108 clinics across the state to provide resources for those seeking abortion services, including out-of-state residents.

Newsom referred to California as a “sanctuary.”

“The folks in Texas right now can be civilly fined through a private right of action for aiding and abetting someone that may come to the state of California, as an example, to seek their reproductive rights and reproductive freedoms,” he said.

The Supreme Court decision triggered a number of statements and responses from local health care providers.

Kaiser Permanente, the largest health care provider in Sonoma County, said in a brief statement it would continue to provide a “full range of comprehensive, integrated women’s health services.” That includes “prenatal, maternity, family planning, contraception, and pregnancy termination services consistent with our obligations to our members, patients, employees, customers, and all applicable laws.”

Providence, a nonprofit Catholic health system that operates Providence Santa Rosa Memorial, Petaluma Valley and Healdsburg hospitals, does not provide elective abortion services but does allow emergency procedures when a pregnant person’s life is threatened.

“When it comes to complex pregnancies or situations in which a woman’s life is at risk, our clinicians exercise their best medical (judgment) and provide all necessary interventions to protect and save the life of the mother,” the provider said in a statement.

Providence said it provides a number of maternity and women’s health services, including investment in an early warning trigger system to detect and respond to complications during and after labor and delivery.

Spokesman Steven Buck said physicians who are part of the Providence Medical Group follow the same guidelines as their hospitals surrounding elective abortions.

“This does not apply, however, to private practice physicians who have privileges at our hospitals; we cannot speak to what services they offer within their private offices,” he said.

Abortion services at some local facilities are limited by a federal statute known as the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits the use of federal dollars for abortions except in cases of rape, incest or when a woman’s life is in threatened by the pregnancy.

Petaluma Health Center, with large clinics in Rohnert Park and Petaluma, does not perform abortions, said Pedro Toledo, the organization’s CEO.

Santa Rosa Community Health does provide abortion services in concert with the Santa Rosa Family Medicine Residency, said Annemarie Brown, a spokeswoman for the organization.

Naomi Fuchs, the former CEO of Santa Rosa Community Health and a longtime champion of women’s health, called the Supreme Court majority’s reasoning “alarming,” relying on the rights that were present at the time of the Founding Fathers.

Fuchs said the ruling opens the door to possible rollbacks in other fundamental human rights. “We must stand together to oppose a role back of rights for women to have autonomy in their lives and for their bodies. We can’t be distracted from that central issue,” she said in an email.

Lund, the maternity care director at the residency program, echoed that call to action. State laws banning and restricting abortion are likely to disproportionately impact low-income and minority woman who don’t have the means to fly out of state and access abortion care.

“It's really important that we not be complacent just because we live in a state where abortion will still be allowed and protected,” she said. “This is a social justice issue and ultimately, a matter of individual rights, and to have a large portion of our citizenry in this country not be able to access medical care is unacceptable.”

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @pressreno.