As clinics pivot post-Roe, battle rages over syringe service in opioid-ravaged West Virginia
Staff at Women’s Health Center of West Virginia know what it’s like to provide controversial health services government officials have sought to restrict
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Staff at Women's Health Center of West Virginia know what it's like to provide controversial health services that government officials have sought to ban or restrict.
The Charleston clinic was the state's only abortion provider for years until the state Legislature passed a near-total ban on the procedure last year. The clinic remained open, providing other reproductive care. Now it's trying to open a syringe service program for drug users, which is another contentious health service that has been regulated by Republican lawmakers in the deep red state.
The proposal, which is scheduled to go before Charleston City Council for a pivotal vote Monday, comes as abortion providers across the country are pivoting or expanding services post-Roe, often to other hard-to-access care for marginalized communities they say face stigma and barriers similar to abortion patients.
Some, like the Women's Health Center of West Virginia, have added gender-affirming services for transgender adults, like hormone therapy. Additionally, the West Virginia clinic and another in Oklahoma are incorporating harm reduction services, which work to mitigate co-occurring health impacts of intravenous drug use such as HIV.
