On Monday, three days after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of abortion rights, Dr. Bernard received a call from a colleague in Ohio.
The Buckeye state had banned abortion after six weeks. A doctor had a patient who was six weeks and three days pregnant.
Bernard might be able to help.
Legislators in Indiana are expected to further restrict or ban abortion soon. There will be a special session of the Indiana General Assembly on July 25th to discuss abortion policy and inflation relief.
The Ohio Supreme Court refused to block the six-week abortion ban.
The impact of the abortion ban on the election is still being studied.
The procedure is legal in Indiana at the moment. The girl was going to Indiana to live with Bernard.
While Indiana law did not change last week when the Supreme Court issued its Dobbs decision, abortion providers here have experienced a dramatic increase in the number of patients coming from neighboring states with more restrictive policies.
There has been an insane amount of requests from pregnant people in Kentucky and Ohio, where it is harder to get an abortion.
There was a ban on abortions after six weeks in Ohio. Kentucky had a law that went into effect last Friday that banned abortions.
Similar restrictions are possible in Indiana.
Bernard is a doctor and he likes that.
It's hard to imagine that we won't be able to provide that care in a few weeks.
Who can be charged for abortions in Ohio? Is ectopic pregnancies a problem?
More calls from other states have been coming in. McHugh, who works at multiple clinics in central and southern Indiana, said that a lot of patients come from out of state. Clinics are seeing about 20 such patients a day.
The number of Kentucky patients coming to Indiana has gone up since restrictive laws took effect there.
Women's Med, a medical center that performs abortions in Indianapolis, has a sister center in Ohio. In the past week, they have doubled the number of patients they treat for a complete procedure.
A representative for Women's Med told IndyStar that more than 100 patients had to be scheduled at the Indianapolis facility.
The woman is crying, distraught, desperate, thankful and appreciative.
The two centers are working together to get patients to Indianapolis for the procedure. In the last few months, they have had people from the south come for a procedure.
Many patients from Ohio and Kentucky are seeking care through Women's Med while also making multiple appointments in other states so if one state closes down, they will still have some options.
Before the Supreme Court ruling, the center asked pregnant people to wait until their six-week mark to book an appointment, but now they are advising them to do so.
People cross state lines for abortions if the clinic is close to their home than if it is far away.
According to the Indiana Department of Health's most recent terminated pregnancies report, 465 abortions were done on out-of-state residents in 2011. The majority of them lived in Kentucky and Ohio.
Midwestern residents can travel to Illinois, where abortion is likely to remain legal even in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling, but until the lawmakers pass any measure to the contrary, abortion will be legal here.
It's not clear what the future will hold.
The lower court ruled that abortions could resume in Kentucky. On Wednesday, abortion clinics in Ohio filed a lawsuit against the state.
Lawmakers in Indiana don't give details of what abortion legislation may contain.
All Hoosier patients and those from neighboring states are being accommodated by abortion providers.
McHugh said that they were doing the best they could to increase availability and access as long as possible.
Contact IndyStar reporter, shari.rudavsky@indystar.com You can follow her on social media.
The article was originally published on The Columbus Dispatch.
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