Even before Roe v. Wade was overturned, abortion care lagged behind in rural communities

Filmmaker Emma Dessau grew up in urban New Jersey with access to sex education and Planned Parenthood, and an understanding that Roe v. Wade was a sacred law. When Dobbs v. Jackson overturned abortion as a constitutional right in 2022, Dessau followed in the steps of others — taking to the streets, posting on social media and donating to charities, she writes for The Daily Yonder.

When she met Caitlin Gaffin, co-founder of Holler Health Justice in West Virginia, she realized Roe was never enough for many rural communities.

Dessau began producing a documentary about Holler Health Justice in 2018. That year — before Roe was overturned — the West Virginia legislature removed Medicaid coverage for abortions, in a state where nearly 30% of people use Medicaid for health care.

"The protection of Roe didn’t make abortion affordable or accessible in West Virginia. It didn’t increase the number of safe clinics in remote hollers or expand the availability of sex education resources," Dessau writes. "After Roe fell, Holler Health Justice adjusted to the new harrowing reality, but its core mission remained the same."

The film underscores the reality of anti-abortion sentiments in the wake of Dobbs v. Jackson. Abortion clinics disappeared due to budget cuts while Crisis Pregnancy Centers popped up, intercepting funding from low-income families and creating abstinence-only sex education programs.

"The mission of Holler Health Justice is not to prove that mutual aid is a replacement for the health and safety services provided by state and federal governments," Dessau writes. "Rather, its work is borne from a tradition of everyday people filling in the gaps when their homes and lives are seen as sources to extract and divest from, not invest in."