Since Hurricane Helene struck North Carolina in late September, the full spectrum of reproductive health care in the region has been in precarity, from treatment for high-risk pregnancies to abortion care. Western North Carolina’s only abortion clinic is still closed, and third-trimester, high-risk pregnant patients have been transferred out to hospitals across the state, health care workers told States Newsroom.
Dr. Bhaskari Burra is an Asheville-based OB-GYN who works at the only high-risk obstetrics center in western North Carolina. She’s also a fellow with Physicians for Reproductive Health.
The clinic had to close after the storm and wasn’t able to fully open back up until the middle of October, Burra said: “We’re already in a maternity care desert in this area and that sort of further ostracized people from accessing care on the outpatient side.”
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