As South bans abortion thousands turn to Illinois clinics

FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS, Ill. — Dr. Colleen McNicholas is fresh off performing two abortions, but the day is still stacked with appointments; as many as 100 abortion and family planning patients might walk through the doors. Just the day before, 58 women had abortions at the Fairview Heights’ Planned Parenthood clinic, 15 miles east of St. Louis. Hundreds of women travel each week to southern Illinois to secure an abortion, something no longer available to millions living in a 1,800-mile stretch of 11 Southern states that mostly banned pregnancy terminations since the Supreme Court stripped away constitutional protections for women to…