Group Plans To Open ‘Floating’ Abortion Clinic In Gulf Of Mexico

A California-based nonprofit organization is working to give women in states where abortion is outlawed the opportunity to get the procedure on federal waters.

Protecting Reproductive Rights of Women Endangered by State Statutes (PRROWESS) is planning to open a “floating” abortion clinic in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the organization’s website. The group will perform abortions on women who are up to 14 weeks pregnant.

“It is often very difficult and expensive for individuals who live close to the Gulf Coast to easily access care in a short time frame, due to distance to the nearest clinics and the need for connecting flights,” PRROWESS states on its website.

“Flying out-of-state often requires patients to secure child care and time off work for multiple days, and may not be an option at all for people who are undocumented. PRROWESS will offer easier and faster access to services for those individuals,” it adds.

The website says PRROWESS will provide care at little to no cost to patients.

The effort isn’t the first abortion clinic to take to the sea. Women on Waves, a Dutch organization, operates abortion clinics on the high seas with its ships that serve women from countries where abortion is illegal, taking them outside their country’s jurisdiction.

Abortion is illegal in Texas, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, which is most of the Gulf region, according to The New York Times. PRROWESS says its plans are legal because it will operate on federal waters.

PRROWESS didn’t respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.