Abortion ‘Railroad’ Readied to Cope With Possible Restrictions

A network modeled after the Underground Railroad that smuggled slaves to freedom in the 19th Century is standing by to help pregnant women in case the Supreme Court’s ruling on a Pennsylvania law makes it more difficult to get an abortion.

The Overground Railroad, based in the Philadelphia suburb of Skippack, has signed up more than 300 volunteers in 31 states since it was started at a Quaker gathering three years ago.

The U.S. Supreme Court had just ruled, in a Missouri case, that states could impose restrictions on abortion.

“Everybody was really upset,” said founder Mary Ellen McNish. “We just all got in a room together and tried to figure out what we could do.”

The network is awaiting the Supreme Court’s opinion of a new Pennsylvania law. By letting the law stand, the court could, in effect, reverse its 1973 ruling that women have a right to terminate pregnancy. A decision is expected by July.

“By organizing now, the Railroad will have a network in place should any states severely restrict access to abortion,” the organization says in a pamphlet seeking volunteers and contributions.

The network could be needed this summer if, for example, the Pennsylvania law’s 24-hour waiting period is upheld, said McNish, executive vice president of Planned Parenthood of Maryland. A woman traveling to a large city might need transportation or a place to stay, she said.

The railroad, for example, would allow a New Orleans woman to travel to Atlanta with one person, to Richmond with another and on to Washington, D.C., with a third to obtain an abortion, McNish said.

Patients would pay their expenses if they were able to do so, and volunteers would be screened to make sure that they didn’t plan to harass the women.

“This is merely an effort to help some women get to states where it’s safe and legal, so they don’t have to go to a back alley,” McNish said.

The railroad is not a formal project of the Religious Society of Friends, which takes no position on abortion. Many of the volunteers are Quakers.

They began by placing an advertisement in a religious journal. The ad prompted some news articles.

The idea “enabled us to go back to our historical roots,” said McNish, who sees a link between supporting reproductive freedom and efforts to help slaves.

One of the Underground Railroad’s most traveled escape routes went through southeastern Pennsylvania, with support from Quaker abolitionists.