Abortion is now banned in Lori Lamprich's home state of Missouri, but that hasn't stopped her taking women to their appointments -- she drives them across the Mississippi River to Illinois, where it remains legal.
"I'm here to fight the power and do what I can and resist these laws that I think are completely inhumane and unfair," the 39-year-old tells AFP at her house in St. Louis, a city of 300,000 people.
As a resident of the "Gateway to the West," Lamprich finds herself well-positioned to help the thousands of Missourians who seek abortions every year, many of whom travel hundreds of miles for the procedure.
On her side of the river, in St. Louis proper, abortion is now illegal -- with no exceptions for incest or rape -- after Missouri became the first state to act following the Supreme Court's decision to strike down Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling which enshrined the right to abortion in the US, on Friday.
Lamprich has been driving women to clinics for two years as a volunteer with the Midwest Access Coalition (MAC), which was founded in 2014 to help people in a region where abortion policies have long been among the most restrictive in the country.
MAC provides travel and accommodation to mostly lower income women seeking the costly procedure.
Lamprich got involved with the organization after having an abortion 15 years ago, and says it "breaks" her heart that women no longer have access to the same care she received.
"It absolutely strengthens my resolve," Lamprich says of the justices' ruling.
- 'Safe haven' -
Until Friday, she could have taken patients to Missouri's last remaining abortion clinic: Planned Parenthood in St Louis. But doctors there performed their final procedure shortly after the court's ruling came down, as dueling demonstrations took place outside.
At Hope Clinic, volunteers escort patients inside, shielding them with umbrellas from anti-abortion protesters who hold signs showing a bloody fetus.
"It's not really a big victory," a Catholic priest who declined to give his name, said of the Supreme Court ruling.
"Abortion is still available, just drive around here or there," he told AFP.
Inside, phones ring off the hook. One caller says she would be traveling five hours for her appointment.
"We are anticipating quite a dramatic increase in our patient load," she said, adding that the clinic is hiring more staff and increasing patient days.
Illinois governor J.B Pritzker has pledged his state will remain a "safe haven" for reproductive rights in the Midwest. All bordering states -- including Indiana, Kentucky, Iowa and Wisconsin – have restricted abortion or are expected to.
- 'Too important' -
More than 46,000 abortions were performed in Illinois in 2020, according to official data, a fifth of them on women from out-of-state, including 6,500 from Missouri.
Planned Parenthood estimates an additional 20,000 to 30,000 people could travel to Illinois every year.
"It's an incredible weight to place on one state," says Sandy Pensoneau-Conway, an advocate for Choices, a Memphis-based clinic that is opening a new site 200 miles (320 kilometers) north in Carbondale, in southern Illinois, to help meet demand.
Lamprich gives rides to one or two women a month on average but expects to soon be needed every weekend and is willing to make the ten-hour round trip to Chicago if the clinics near St. Louis get overwhelmed.
Experts warn that states might try to prosecute people who help women cross state lines for an abortion. If they do, Lamprich won't be deterred.
"This is too important to me," she concludes.
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© Agence France-Presse
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