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Abortion clinics in rural California challenge state’s reputation as haven for reproductive rights.

The only surgical abortion clinic in a nearly 100-mile radius is in Redding, and every Wednesday it performs operations it is ringed by placard-waving opponents yelling at the women going in to repent and keep their babies. The area is so hostile to abortion rights that the clinic has to fly doctors in from the Bay Area because nobody nearby wants to risk their safety.

In a state that presents itself as a safe sanctuary for abortion, the intensifying protests here are a prime example of how that image is not universal — especially in far-flung areas. And how it can be terrifying for women who see clinics like this as their only practical choice for abortion care.

Here, and in other rural areas, the fight over abortion rights has only ratcheted up since the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court Dobbs decision overturning the national right to abortion, according to those on both sides of the abortion debate. With sparse resources in the sticks, those who perform abortions say they feel like they are under siege. Abortions still take place in Redding, but only after women are compelled to pass through a gauntlet of hostility and pleadings for them to reconsider. 

https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/abortion-california-clinics-protests-19798556.php

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Abortion clinics in rural California challenge state’s reputation as haven for reproductive rights. <br /> <br /> The only surgical abortion clinic in a nearly 100-mile radius is in Redding, and every Wednesday it performs operations it is ringed by placard-waving opponents yelling at the women going in to repent and keep their babies. The area is so hostile to abortion rights that the clinic has to fly doctors in from the Bay Area because nobody nearby wants to risk their safety. <br /> <br /> In a state that presents itself as a safe sanctuary for abortion, the intensifying protests here are a prime example of how that image is not universal — especially in far-flung areas. And how it can be terrifying for women who see clinics like this as their only practical choice for abortion care.<br /> <br /> Here, and in other rural areas, the fight over abortion rights has only ratcheted up since the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court Dobbs decision overturning the national right to abortion, according to those on both sides of the abortion debate. With sparse resources in the sticks, those who perform abortions say they feel like they are under siege. Abortions still take place in Redding, but only after women are compelled to pass through a gauntlet of hostility and pleadings for them to reconsider. <br /> <br /> https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/abortion-california-clinics-protests-19798556.php
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