Abortion appointment wait times in Tucson decrease as Planned Parenthood hires more staff
For southern Arizonans wanting to get abortion care in Tucson, they will no longer have to wait weeks or a month for an appointment because of an increase in staff, primarily providers working on a contract basis, filling in for those fleeing Arizona's tight abortion restrictions.
As of Friday afternoon, the wait time for an appointment was 48 hours. Meanwhile in Phoenix, patients have to wait up to three weeks for an appointment, according to Planned Parenthood.
Staffing challenges in abortion clinics have increased as nurses and physicians who provide abortions move out of Arizona because of “the lack of clarity” around abortion rights, said Brittany Fonteno, CEO and president of Planned Parenthood. The lack of staffing has made it challenging for some clinics to stay open.
The landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that ruled in June to overturn the constitutional right to abortion, and put abortion rights in the hands of the states, “created an environment of fear of criminalization” making providers feel uncomfortable providing care in Arizona, Fonteno said.
Planned Parenthood is one of just two abortion clinics in southern Arizona, but the only one offering a surgical abortion. The other clinic also located in Tucson offers medication abortion services for anyone pregnant up to 10 weeks. These are just two of the state’s six abortion clinics, the rest of which are in Phoenix.
Fonteno said longer wait times for appointments have pushed people to have abortions later than they would have wanted, which has led to a range of impacts: With medication abortions only available up to 11 weeks, some patients have been required to have surgical abortions, which can be costly depending on how far along the patient's pregnancy is. In other situations, people pushed past the 15-week limit have had to travel out of state to areas with later limits on abortions.
Longer wait times have forced rural Arizonans to travel out of state for abortion care
When wait times in Tucson were long, people who lived too far from Phoenix to get care began traveling out of state, said Eloise Lopez, the executive director of Pro-Choice Arizona and the Abortion Fund of Arizona. The Abortion Fund of Arizona helps pay for transportation, lodging, gas and other needs someone may have when wanting to get an abortion.
Where people went depended on what part of the state they lived in. For southern Arizonans, that meant traveling to El Centro, California, while residents up north near Kingman were more likely to travel to Las Vegas, and those in the northeastern part of Arizona traveled to New Mexico.
Although southern Arizonans can also travel to Mexico for abortion services, for many who are undocumented, that journey is not an option, Lopez said.
Abortions are becoming more expensive
Fonteno said Arizona’s 15-week ban is not as good of a compromise as people may think.
“There actually is no compromise when it comes to people’s ability to access health care and make their own decisions about their bodies and lives,” Fonteno said.
The 15-week ban for abortions came into effect after former Gov. Doug Ducey signed into law in March 2022 a bill that prohibits abortion after 15 weeks, without exceptions for rape or incest.
In addition, Arizona’s pre-statehood law that calls for a near-total ban on abortion is still being fought in court.
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As abortion services have become more scarce, the price for the procedure is increasing as clinics increase their prices to stay open, Lopez said. Her organization also has seen traveling expenses increase as people travel farther to get care.
The organization spends between $700 and $1,000 for round-trip tickets for at least two people.
“Even with abortion legal up to 15 weeks, access is severely impacted either way,” Lopez said.
Reach reporter Sarah Lapidus at sarah.lapidus@gannett.com.
Coverage of southern Arizona on azcentral.com and in The Arizona Republic is funded by the nonprofit Report for America in association with The Republic.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Abortion appointment wait times in Tucson decrease; more staff hired
