Will the roughly 100 pro-life bills introduced and passed this year help stop abortions? The short answer is yes, according to a new study released by JAMA Network Open, one of the nation’s premiere health care journals. But it may result in a new problem as well.

A team of researchers at the radically pro-abortion University of California San Francisco (UCSF) recently concluded that distance makes a big impact on women choosing abortion.

According to the study, “Among the 1948 counties included in the analysis, greater travel distances were associated with lower abortion rates in a dose-response manner… These findings suggest that greater travel distances to abortion services are associated with lower abortion rates. The results indicate which geographic areas have insufficient access to abortion care.”

Simply, abortion rates fall considerably when the nearest abortion clinic is 120 miles away.

For cities that have voted to become sanctuaries for the preborn, this is fantastic news. Clearly, keeping abortionists at bay and inviting pro-life pregnancy resources centers in is a great way to serve the women and families of the community.

But for abortionists from UCSF, this is a problem. If there are no abortions, money can’t be made. Their suggestion is for primary care providers to pick up the slack, to ensure that in no way are women denied the opportunity to end the life of their unborn child.

Per the study, “If abortion were integrated into primary care, an additional 18,190 abortions (mean rate, 11.4 [range, 1.1-45.5] per 1000 female residents of reproductive age) were estimated. If telemedicine were widely available, an additional 70,920 abortions were estimated (mean rate, 12.3 [range, 1.4-45.5] per 1000 female residents of reproductive age).”

Getting all primary care physicians to offer abortions would be an impossible goal. Many find it morally repugnant, and others simply don’t want to take on the liability of such a potentially dangerous practice. Abortion may pay, but only a small number of physicians have any interest in learning how to perform the procedure or taking on the risks associated with it.

This will likely lead to the continued growth of the telemedicine industry, where abortion pills are given over the counter to any woman or even through the mail, though she may not have been examined or screened by a physician for potentially life-threatening complications.

Groups are already forming in preparation for a post-Roe world by setting up telemedicine operations that will continue to operate despite state and local ordinances.

The Mountain Access Brigade, one such group, is already making preparations. As reported by Politico, “The member spoke under condition of anonymity to discuss confidential plans. The underground community of support groups has been adding services to advise women about how to use abortion pills or how to arrange rides for women interested in getting an abortion in-person.”

This could result in a multitude of abortion related complications and emergency room visits, where doctors will likely lose precious time treating a patient while trying to determine what went wrong since she was not under the care of a medical provider.

The passing of pro-life, anti-abortion laws is fantastic news, but pro-abortion groups are preparing for this eventuality by skirting the law in order to ensure that women are still able to end the lives of their children.

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