By Gabbie Burton
Contributing Writer

For many in Chester County, going to the doctor is simple and easy. You have insurance, you make an appointment, and you go to the doctor.

But wait. 

This time, your insurance can’t be accepted for your procedure. The only office isn’t anywhere nearby and when you do finally get there, you are sent home to wait a full day to receive the care you asked for. You are counseled on information you didn’t want nor ask for. 

This is the current reality for some women who seek to terminate their pregnancies in southern Chester County and across Pennsylvania.

Since Roe v. Wade was overturned in the summer of 2022, states across the nation have restricted or banned abortions entirely. While Pennsylvania is not one of them and abortion remains legal in the state, there are restrictions, including a 24-hour waiting period; parental, guardian or judicial consent if the pregnant person is a minor; a 24-week gestational limit; insurance limitations and mandatory counseling.

“We know that in Pennsylvania, while abortion remains legal and has remained legal, it is certainly not accessible to many people across the state,” said Signe Espinoza, executive director of Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates.

Limited access, TRAP laws

Espinoza said that at the time of Roe v. Wade’s passage in the early 1970s, there were over 175 abortion providers across the state. Today, there are only 17 facilities, excluding hospitals. According to abortionfinder.org, there are 21 in-person providers across the state and nine virtual options.

“Access to abortion has been something that anti-abortion elected officials have been chipping away at for decades,” Espinoza said. “The threat to abortion didn’t start when Dobbs fell. The threat to abortion has been in our backyards for decades.”

Espinoza cites targeted restrictions on abortion providers (TRAP) laws as a significant contributor to the loss of abortion access across the state. According to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, TRAP laws include abortion providers having to meet building requirements for ambulatory surgical centers; the requirement of doctors providing abortions to have hospital admitting privileges at a nearby hospital; and reporting requirements that force doctors to supply the state government with medical or patient information as needed, among other measures. Consequently, the layers of requirements can restrict providers and force doors to close.

In Chester County, there is only one in-person abortion clinic left: West Chester’s Planned Parenthood Surgical Center.

“That means that someone from Oxford has to get to West Chester, or someone from Coatesville has to get to West Chester,” said Cheryl Brubaker, executive director at the Fund for Women and Girls. “Public transportation doesn't exist, you know it really doesn't, so those are some of the barriers that exist.” 

For local communities in southern Chester County, The Planned Parenthood Surgical Center is about 40 minutes from Oxford, about 30 minutes from Coatesville and over 20 minutes from Kennett Square, and without a reliable form of transportation, access to abortion services in Chester County is difficult for some women.

“We always push back that Pennsylvania is an ‘access state.’ Yes, it is legal, but it’s not an access state, it’s an opportunity state where we can really come together and make change so that it is accessible to more people," said Espinoza. 

Misinformation

Transportation and TRAP laws are not the only barriers to abortion access in the county. Misinformation is also a potential barrier to reproductive access.

Those seeking abortion services may turn to crisis pregnancy centers that are often run by anti-abortion advocates and religious organizations and do not provide abortion services, referrals, prenatal care or even birth control. They may, however, offer free pregnancy tests, free limited ultrasounds and family counseling in an effort to influence patients against abortion.

Crisis pregnancy centers outnumber abortion providers across the state nine to one and in Chester County alone there are six crisis pregnancy center locations. One such center is Chester County Connect Care, whose client website states that they provide free pregnancy tests, free ultrasounds and counseling, but the agency “does not provide extended OB/GYN or pre-natal care, birth control prescriptions or devices, fertility testing, abortion services or referrals for abortions.”

The client website provides information on pregnancy options that lean pro-life; however, the transparency on the client website ends there.

The client website does not disclose the center’s religious affiliations which can only be found on a separate information website link at www.ccconnectcareinfo.org. The first of four pillars of the organization state that it is, “important to know,” that, “the core of Chester County Connect Care’s mission lies the profound desire to share the transformative love of Jesus Christ and the abundant life He offers to our clients,” yet this is not found on the client website.

The information site also states that Connect Care underwent a rebranding in 2022 including changing its name from Chester County Women’s Services in order to, “expand our reach to abortion-vulnerable individuals and increase the positive impact that our services have on women, men, and families.”

Additionally, the information website includes a video called “In Her Shoes” which walks the viewers through a typical appointment at the center. The client website features a nearly identical video called “What to Expect,” except all religious and biblical references have been noticeably cut from this version.

Connect Care was contacted for an interview and was initially responsive. However, a representative of the organization requested the Chester County Press sign a “confidentiality” agreement and send over questions prior to an interview. The representative did not respond to further communication and did not respond to a reporter’s questions pertaining to the differing information on the agency’s websites.

Connect Care has three locations in the county: Coatesville, Kennett Square and West Chester.

Other crisis pregnancy centers in Chester County include Birthright of West Chester and Coatesville, and Phoenixville’s A Baby’s Breath and Genesis Women’s Clinic. Espinoza did not reference any one crisis center specifically, but shared her thoughts on the practice of crisis centers across the state.

“You’ll know very quickly that they are not real providers, because they are often run by anti-abortion activists who have very shady and harmful tactics and their intention is to really scare you and shame you and pressure you out of getting an abortion,” said Espinoza. “They actually play a really critical role in what it looks like to access abortion in a state where these centers – fake providers, fake clinics and anti-abortion centers – are all over in our communities and it’s really, really difficult for folks to get real care when we have 17 abortion providers left in the state, and they outnumber us.”

Espinoza also shared that the Pa. Attorney General’s website has an online form to “report reproductive health deceptive activity.” According to the website, the goal is to, “report misleading and deceptive conduct by crisis pregnancy centers,” including, “misrepresenting services offered, misrepresenting the danger of abortion, delaying reproductive health services through duplicative tests, and/or hidden fees.”

Reproductive care does not start nor end with just abortions and finding trusted providers is an important step to managing reproductive health. For other general reproductive health services in the county, options include regular primary care and OB/GYN doctor offices, but if this is not accessible, LCH community health centers, including their Women’s Health Center in West Grove, are also options.

Services offered at LCH’s Women’s Health Center include annual exams, breast and cervical cancer screenings, IUD and Nexplanon insertion and removal, family planning and contraception, STD screenings, pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, prenatal care, postpartum care and more. LCH does not perform abortions nor provide direct referrals for abortions, but they will provide information on where locations for the service are.

“What I would say to any individual searching for care and is not sure where to go is that community health centers like LCH are an excellent option for everyone,” said Kate Wickersham, director of development at LCH. “We do have insurance that we accept and Medicaid that we accept, and we also accept those who are uninsured, who have the availability of the sliding fee discount scale.”

Wickersham also highlighted that all LCH locations are along the SCCOOT Route, making public transportation an option for those hoping to access LCH resources.

Putting up a fight

While LCH and other providers offer care across the county to those who need it, when it comes to reproductive care in southern Chester County, accessibility still remains one of the greatest barriers to residents receiving their needed and preferred care.

The work to make abortion and reproductive care more accessible to Pennsylvanian’s is far from over for those on the front lines of the issue. While the state’s legislature has a Democratic majority and a Democratic governor that are supportive of reproductive health care, the senate has a Republican majority, making it hard for advocates like Espinoza to see the changes they want to see.

“It still makes it incredibly difficult for us, because it means we can’t get anything proactively done,” she said. “With the incoming Trump administration and the incoming state administration at the end of the month, there’s only so much we can do through the legislature, if anything at all.”

Though there are continued challenges facing pro-choice advocates, Espinoza said the motivation to fight seems to only be growing stronger.

“Make no mistake,” she said. “We know that sexual, reproductive healthcare is certainly under threat, and we’re going to make sure that we are on deck to put up a fight.” 

To contact Contributing Writer Gabbie Burton, email [email protected].