Traveling Doctor Provides Abortion Services in US States

Traveling Doctor Provides Abortion¹ Services in US States

Shelly Tien is a women's health doctor based in Florida.

She used to take care of women who had high-risk pregnancies². But now, because it is hard to get safe abortions³ in some U.S. states, she travels from her home to states including Oklahoma and Alabama to help women end their pregnancies. An abortion is a medical procedure that ends the life of a fetus⁴ developing in a woman's uterus.

Tien permitted a reporter and a photographer from the Reuters News Agency to go with her while she did her work late last year and in March 2022.

Tien said she decided⁵ to start performing abortions when it looked like many states would make new laws restricting them. She is one of an estimated 50 doctors in the U.S. who travel from state to state to help with abortions.

She moved away from her old job in Illinois to take a job in Jacksonville, Florida with Planned Parenthood, a health organization that is known for helping⁶ women get abortions.

Inside the Planned Parenthood medical office in Birmingham, Alabama, Tien talked with a woman getting an abortion.

"You're doing great," she said. "So strong. Breathe. Excellent job."

Recently, the news website Politico published an early version of a document from the U.S. Supreme⁷ Court. The opinion proposed that the legal case Roe⁸ v. Wade⁹, the decision that legalized abortion throughout the U.S., should be overturned.

States run by those who are against abortion are working to put laws in place that would place restrictions¹⁰ on the procedure. Other, more permissive states, are working to expand abortion availability.

Over 20 states have in place or are putting in place measures that place restrictions on abortions. They include Oklahoma and Alabama where Tien works. Tien said she does not want to think about what her work will be like if the court overturns Roe v. Wade.

She thinks some women will try to get unsafe abortions. She called that idea "deeply sad."

She said she will continue performing abortions legally.

"I'll follow whatever state restrictions ... are in place," she said, but noted¹¹ that she cannot be sure what the restrictions will be like state-to-state.

Abortion access already limited

One of the reasons Tien must travel from her home to other states is that at least six states in the U.S. do not have local doctors who will perform abortions.

Zack Gingrich-Gaylord is a spokesperson for a group called Trust Women. It helps women get abortions in places where they are hard to get.

He said it can be hard for doctors to get approval to perform medical procedures in several states. Doctors are required to have state licenses¹². And some states do not permit doctors to do abortions if they do not have permission from a hospital to admit patients.

The non-profit group, Susan B. Anthony List, opposes abortion. It says it is important for doctors who perform abortions to be able to send patients to the hospital if there is a problem. Suzanne Swayze Liebel, an official with the group, said doctors need to be able to take care of their patient for longer than one hour after a procedure.

Abortion rights groups say problems are not common and clinics have ways to deal with emergencies even if the doctor who did the abortion is not present. They say permission to send a patient to a hospital is an unnecessary requirement that makes it harder for doctors like Tien to work.

Patients from far away

When she is in Birmingham, Tien sees patients from states such as Georgia, Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Those states place restrictions on abortion.

When Tien came to Birmingham, Alabama, in March, she carried out six abortions by surgery and 12 by giving medication to the patient. Their ages were from 19 to 36. One did not speak English and another drove many hours from Louisiana.

One woman who only gave the letters of her name, A.W., said she decided to have an abortion because she did not think the father had enough money to support a baby. She did not tell him about it. She said she did not want to have the baby, but the man would probably try to change her mind.

"I don't want to change my mind," she said.

Tien gave her a pill that started the abortion process. She gave A.W. other pills that would finish the process. She said there might be some pain from muscle contractions¹³ called cramps¹⁴.

"Women are very strong," Tien told A.W.

Safety first

The doctor said she believed from a young age that women should have control of their bodies. She also said she knows that some people do not like her work, and they could try to hurt her.

She has a home protection system and always makes sure she has enough fuel in her car in case she has to run away from danger.

When she went to Oklahoma City, a security guard watched the door and checked the belongings¹⁵ of everyone who came inside. Tien entered the building from a separate area, away from protesters who gathered at the main entrance.

When Tien was there in March, one person held a sign that said: "Life, the first inalienable right."

Tien wants to do her work, and she knows she has to take early morning airplane flights and drive long distances. Sometimes she plans to work in one city and then travel over 1,000 kilometers so she can work somewhere else the next day.

But flight delays can add stress to an already stressful job.

Recently, she had to run through the Atlanta airport to make it to a Jacksonville, Florida, flight. But she was glad she did not have to drive.

"One thing I don't have stamina¹⁶ for is driving," she said.

Words in This Story

procedure – n. a medical operation

pill –n. a small, rounded object that you swallow and that contains medicine, vitamins,

muscle – n. a body tissue that can contract and produce movement

inalienable – adj. impossible to take away or give up

stress –n. a state of mental tension and worry caused by problems in your life or work

stamina – n. great physical or mental strength that allows you to continue doing something for a long time

1 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

2 pregnancies   

怀孕，妊娠( pregnancy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Since the wartime population needed replenishment, pregnancies were a good sign. 最后一桩倒不失为好现象，战时人口正该补充。
• She's had three pregnancies in four years. 她在四年中怀孕叁次。

3 abortions   

n.小产( abortion的名词复数 )；小产胎儿；（计划）等中止或夭折；败育

参考例句：

• The Venerable Master: By not having abortions, by not killing living beings. 上人：不堕胎、不杀生。 来自互联网
• Conclusion Chromosome abnormality is one of the causes of spontaneous abortions. 结论：染色体异常是导致反复自然流产的原因之一。 来自互联网

4 fetus   

n.胎，胎儿

参考例句：

• In the fetus,blood cells are formed in different sites at different ages.胎儿的血细胞在不同时期生成在不同的部位。
• No one knows why a fetus is not automatically rejected by the mother's immune system. 没有人知道为什么母亲的免疫系统不会自动排斥胎儿。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

8 roe   

n.鱼卵；獐鹿

参考例句：

• We will serve smoked cod's roe at the dinner.宴会上我们将上一道熏鳕鱼子。
• I'll scramble some eggs with roe?我用鱼籽炒几个鸡蛋好吗？

9 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

10 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

11 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

12 licenses   

n.执照( license的名词复数 )v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Drivers have ten days' grace to renew their licenses. 驾驶员更换执照有10天的宽限期。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Jewish firms couldn't get import or export licenses or raw materials. 犹太人的企业得不到进出口许可证或原料。 来自辞典例句

13 contractions   

n.收缩( contraction的名词复数 )；缩减；缩略词；（分娩时）子宫收缩

参考例句：

• Contractions are much more common in speech than in writing. 缩略词在口语里比在书写中常见得多。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Muscle contractions are powered by the chemical adenosine triphosphate(ATP ). 肌肉收缩是由化学物质三磷酸腺苷(ATP)提供动力的。 来自辞典例句

14 cramps   

n. 抽筋, 腹部绞痛, 铁箍 adj. 狭窄的, 难解的 v. 使...抽筋, 以铁箍扣紧, 束缚

参考例句：

• If he cramps again let the line cut him off. 要是它再抽筋，就让这钓索把它勒断吧。
• "I have no cramps." he said. “我没抽筋，"他说。

15 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

16 stamina   

n.体力；精力；耐力

参考例句：

• I lacked the stamina to run the whole length of the race.我没有跑完全程的耐力。
• Giving up smoking had a magical effect on his stamina.戒烟神奇地增强了他的体力。