waiting

Patients were in the lobby, waiting, the moment it became a post-Roe America. The staff at Alamo Women’s Reproductive Services Clinic in San Antonio had just received a call from their attorney: Abortion procedures in Texas would have to stop immediately. The dozen or so patients in the lobby Friday morning would have to be turned away. The clinic staff would have to be the ones to tell them. Andrea Gallegos, the clinic’s administrator, and the rest of the staff walked out and addressed the room: “The Supreme Court made this decision today and, unfortunately, your geographical location affects your bodily autonomy,” she said they told waiting patients. Gallegos watched each word land like a blow. People cried. They screamed. They begged for help, she said. It was “complete despair.” ...

In 1992, after years of advocating for modern infrastructure, Black residents of rural Exmore, Virginia, took matters into their own hands. For a little over 10 years, Zenobia Washington owned a home with a bathroom and hot and cold running water. Before that, she lived in a rental home. And growing up, Washington, who was raised in Exmore, Virginia, lived in a home with no bathroom and only cold water. Washington said her family heated up water on the stove. The Washingtons lived in New Road, a historically Black section of Exmore that was often ignored by city officials. But Washington was part of a dedicated group of community members who took matters into their own hands and improved what were long accepted conditions. She was enthusiastic about continuing that wor...

Tag: waiting

Patients Setting In Abortion Clinic Waiting Rooms As Roe Fell Had To Be Turned Away

Indoor Plumbing Arrived in the U.S. in the 1840s. This Town Got Tired of Waiting