# OB-GYN from the San Francisco area is planning a floating clinic **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** roe\_vs\_wade\_abortion\ **Created:** [July 12, 2022, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ob-gyn-from-the-san-francisco-area-is-planning-a-floating-clinic/967823 "2022-07-12T14:14:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2022, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ob-gyn-from-the-san-francisco-area-is-planning-a-floating-clinic/967823/1 "2022-07-12T14:14:37Z")
> **[UCSF doctor plans floating clinic for states banning abortion, ready for...](https://abc7news.com/roe-v-wade-floating-abortion-clinic-ucsf-doctor-california-dr-meg-autry-proposes-in-gulf-of-mexico/12038324/)** > > "The people who will be served by this will be the people that don't have the money, means or time to go elsewhere." > “This is going to be a very large monetary effort that is funded by philanthropy and maybe a donated vessel,” said Dr. Meg Autry, an OB-GYN and professor at UCSF. > > “Basically a reproductive floating health clinic,” said Dr. Autry, who’s been conjuring the idea for years. “It would offer contraception, point of care, STI testing and treatment, we’re hoping vaccination, as well as surgical terminations.” > “The reason for this particular innovation is if you look at the Gulf every state that borders the Gulf is restrictive,” said the doctor, explaining women are travelling far out state for services, meaning a floating clinic closer by could be a game changer. “The people who will be served by this will be the people that don’t have the money, means or time to go elsewhere.” > > And, the doctor said, for the most part the plan is ready to set sail. > > “We’ve done all the detailed research we can do and going forward it depends on the kind of vessel we can get.” ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2022, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ob-gyn-from-the-san-francisco-area-is-planning-a-floating-clinic/967823/2 "2022-07-12T14:19:02Z")
Someone could bankroll a fleet of riverboats offering abortion services to Midwest communities along the Missouri and Mississippi, but I suspect that plan wouldn’t fly (or float). ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2022, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ob-gyn-from-the-san-francisco-area-is-planning-a-floating-clinic/967823/3 "2022-07-12T14:30:05Z")
Is the idea to be outside of the states’ jurisdictions? I guess you could run a shuttle from the shore to the floating clinic? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2022, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ob-gyn-from-the-san-francisco-area-is-planning-a-floating-clinic/967823/4 "2022-07-12T14:43:06Z")
A group from the Netherlands called [Women on Waves](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_on_Waves) does the same thing; they have a mobile clinic onboard a ship that they take to countries with restrictive laws, like Morocco, Mexico, Guatemala, Ireland and Poland. I _think_ since then some of these countries have liberalized their abortion laws, while the US went the other way. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2022, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ob-gyn-from-the-san-francisco-area-is-planning-a-floating-clinic/967823/5 "2022-07-12T15:01:45Z")
Love the idea BUT they will need jolly boats/launches to go from shore to vessel - keep in mind that the states are leaning towards arresting and charging the medical and other staff of clinics doing abortions with murder, so it would be best for the vessel to simply stay in international waters all the time. The transport launches would have to be run secretly - so abortion would be like prohibition era rum runners transporting cases of booze from ship to shore. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2022, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ob-gyn-from-the-san-francisco-area-is-planning-a-floating-clinic/967823/6 "2022-07-12T15:19:31Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Is the idea to be outside of the states’ jurisdictions? As @aruvqan said, the idea is to be in international waters. I got that from NBC News Radio recently. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2022, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ob-gyn-from-the-san-francisco-area-is-planning-a-floating-clinic/967823/7 "2022-07-12T15:21:01Z")
At first I didn’t read the word “floating” literally, and thought it just meant “can move from place to place”, meaning that the clinic would have to actually enter the state. Read literally, it makes much more sense. And it’s still legally risky. The Texas law, at least, prohibits helping anyone to leave the state for purposes of abortion. For most ordinary travel, that’s ambiguous (what’s “helping someone” to leave the state? How can you tell that abortion is the purpose?), but when it’s a ferry boat whose only destination is the offshore abortion clinic, the legal case (assuming you accept the law as legitimate to begin with, but that ship has sailed) is pretty much a slam dunk. So whoever operates that ferry boat is going to be at serious legal risk. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2022, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ob-gyn-from-the-san-francisco-area-is-planning-a-floating-clinic/967823/8 "2022-07-12T15:21:44Z")
In Texas, isn’t it still a crime or something to help someone get an abortion? How do the ferry services avoid that? ETA: Ninjaed! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2022, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ob-gyn-from-the-san-francisco-area-is-planning-a-floating-clinic/967823/9 "2022-07-12T15:22:12Z")
NBC News Radio also mentioned helicopters. ETA: > **[A doctor wants to open a floating abortion clinic in the Gulf of Mexico....](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/floating-abortion-clinic-gulf-of-mexico-prrowess-dr-meg-autry-heres-how-it-would-work/)** > > "The vessel will be Coast Guard inspected and will have helicopter access for transport and emergencies," the organization says. > “The vessel will be Coast Guard inspected and will have helicopter access for transport and emergencies,” the organization says. These types of facilities have been used by the military and relief organizations for years and the organization says research shows patients are willing to seek care in a floating clinic. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2022, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ob-gyn-from-the-san-francisco-area-is-planning-a-floating-clinic/967823/10 "2022-07-12T16:51:07Z")
It sounds like a workable plan. The concern would be the legality of traveling from the state for a procedure that’s illegal. That’s eventually going to get legislation and challenged in court. Follow up care for complications is also a concern. The woman would have no choice but to visit her local hospital. How would this work under Federal jurisdiction? That’s who controls the coastline? Theres currently no Federal law protecting abortion. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2022, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ob-gyn-from-the-san-francisco-area-is-planning-a-floating-clinic/967823/11 "2022-07-12T17:00:13Z")
Would there be difficulty in insuring such a venture? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2022, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ob-gyn-from-the-san-francisco-area-is-planning-a-floating-clinic/967823/12 "2022-07-12T17:06:08Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > That’s eventually going to get legislation and challenged in court. Been there, done that. The legislation was upheld. At least in Texas, but I see no reason to think that the rest of the South won’t follow suit. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2022, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ob-gyn-from-the-san-francisco-area-is-planning-a-floating-clinic/967823/13 "2022-07-12T17:16:28Z")
Didn’t the Texas lawsuit-law go away when Roe was overturned? I thought it had a provision like that. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2022, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ob-gyn-from-the-san-francisco-area-is-planning-a-floating-clinic/967823/14 "2022-07-12T17:17:49Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > …they will need jolly boats/launches to go from shore to vessel…it would be best for the vessel to simply stay in international waters all the time It’s not clear to me that the states have jurisdiction beyond commercial rights over _any_ coastal waters. [https://govinfo.library.unt.edu/oceancommission/documents/full\_color\_rpt/03a\_primer.pdf](https://govinfo.library.unt.edu/oceancommission/documents/full_color_rpt/03a_primer.pdf) > …the Submerged Lands Act was enacted in 1953 giving coastal states jurisdiction over a region extending 3 nautical miles seaward from the baseline, commonly referred to as state waters. For historical reasons, Texas and the Gulf Coast of Florida are an exception, with state waters extending > to 9 nautical miles offshore… But this is just commercial rights. IANAL, but my reading is that states have no jurisdiction to arrest someone for a state crime outside the “baseline”: > For purposes of both international and domestic law, the boundary line dividing the land from the ocean is called the baseline… the U.S. baseline is the mean lower low water line along the coast, as shown on official U.S. nautical charts. Most likely you would still need a small boat to get there, and to evade state law enforcement at launch; but I don’t think the floating clinic would need to remain 12 miles offshore. And I’m not sure if (say) a floating pontoon were built far enough out for the floating clinic to dock temporarily, whether that would bring the clinic itself under state jurisdiction? I would guess so… but this whole situation is going to raise some obscure points in state vs federal jurisdiction. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2022, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ob-gyn-from-the-san-francisco-area-is-planning-a-floating-clinic/967823/15 "2022-07-13T01:17:07Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > So whoever operates that ferry boat is going to be at serious legal risk. Yes, but someone would have to sue them for $10,000. Lot’s of luck collecting the award, even if successful. In fact, how would even identify the sailors, who would presumably be non-residents. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2022, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ob-gyn-from-the-san-francisco-area-is-planning-a-floating-clinic/967823/16 "2022-07-13T03:22:06Z")
That’s definitely a concern, as is professional licensing. I’d also be worried about some nutjob doing something to sabotage the boat. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2022, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ob-gyn-from-the-san-francisco-area-is-planning-a-floating-clinic/967823/17 "2022-07-13T03:36:40Z")
I have a question that fits in either this thread or the other more general abortion discussion thread: There’s all this talk of women leaving their state to have an abortion – whether going to another state or, now, going to an off-shore boat. Presumably, such women, and all the providers and enablers, would be safe from prosecution, as they are outside the home state’s jurisdiction. And some states are passing “abortion sanctuary” laws to protect these women, the doctors, etc. But I’ve not seen this problem mentioned: What happens when those women go back home? As soon as they set foot back in their home state, they could be prosecuted, if the home state has evidence of what happened. How can any “sanctuary state”, or off-shore boat, protect women from prosecution once said women go back home? It looks to me like, any woman who goes to another state for an abortion _can never go back home again_, but must re-settle in the state where the treatment happened, or in some other abortion-safe state. Likewise, if done on a boat, the woman would have to go directly from the boat to some other safe state, and could not go back home again. We will become a nation of abortion refugees. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2022, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ob-gyn-from-the-san-francisco-area-is-planning-a-floating-clinic/967823/18 "2022-07-13T03:38:19Z")
And as for providing these services with boats: How about Biden sign an executive order giving them some magnificent yachts confiscated from Яussian oligarchs? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2022, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ob-gyn-from-the-san-francisco-area-is-planning-a-floating-clinic/967823/19 "2022-07-13T12:04:45Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Yes, but someone would have to sue them for $10,000. Lot’s of luck collecting the award, even if successful. In fact, how would even identify the sailors, who would presumably be non-residents. So you bring a suit against “the owners of such-and-such boat”, and if the owners don’t identify themselves by showing up in court, then the court finds against them in absentia, and seizes assets against the judgement, specifically, the boat. > [@Senegoid](#): > > Presumably, such women, and all the providers and enablers, would be safe from prosecution, as they are outside the home state’s jurisdiction. Except that the states have also criminalized acts that would occur within the state, like the planning and preparation for leaving the state. The states have been seriously extending their reach, of late, with consequences that I don’t think anyone has yet fully contemplated. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2022, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ob-gyn-from-the-san-francisco-area-is-planning-a-floating-clinic/967823/20 "2022-07-13T19:08:40Z")
The Feds have long practiced extraterritoriality in their lawmaking. And of using 2nd and 3rd order levers against unwanted behavior. (e.g. making it illegal or reputationally very risky for banks to handle money from marijuana dispensaries or porn businesses as a way to suppress those businesses without actually banning them) They, and we, are about to see the baleful consequences of States playing the same game. Made up example: Mega-Universal Health Insurance is a conglomerate that insures about 25% of all private employees in the US. They happen to be headquartered in a deep red state. That state legislature passes a law criminalizing any insurance company based in the state from paying any benefits to anyone anywhere for the purpose of an abortion or any other subsequent care. And also against paying any claims sourced from a medical provider or practice that does abortions, even if the claims are unrelated to an abortion. Mega-Universal is screwed. As are their customers & those customers’ providers in the other 49 states. They’ll need to first move HQ to another state, then stop insuring people in the problem state(s). That’s gonna take time & lots of money. Maybe easier to knuckle under. This might fall afoul of the Commerce clause, but only if SCOTUS says it does. “States rights” were cute anachronisms in the 19th century. They’re a fatal flaw that may well destroy the USA in the 21st. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ob-gyn-from-the-san-francisco-area-is-planning-a-floating-clinic/967823.md?page=2)