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The cost of abortions—around $500 on average, according to the Guttmacher Institute—is yet another obstacle for low-income women, including many undocumented immigrants. The stigma of visiting a clinic can also deter some women from going. Sofia, a volunteer who escorts women to Whole Woman's Health, the only clinic in McAllen, said fear was a pervasive experience for the patients she encountered."They're afraid of lots of things. The situations they've been in have already been traumatic, and then they're afraid to reach out because they don't know if they'll be treated or deported," said Sofia, who requested her last name not be used to protect her from abortion opponents. "The uncertainty creates a lot of fear for them, and then they have to figure out how to pay for it and who's going to help them. A cousin of mine needed these services, and people were making it so much harder, protesting outside the clinic and making a difficult situation even more difficult."In the face of these obstacles, undocumented women are increasingly turning to DIY abortions. As many as 240,000 females in Texas have attempted a self-induced abortion, according to a study released in November by the Texas Policy Evaluation Project. The report also found that Latina women living in counties that bordered Mexico were "significantly more likely to know someone who had attempted self-induction or to have done it themselves.""When you drastically reduce access to safe and legal abortions you see more women turning to self abortion or illegal abortion." —David Brown
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