Featuring MSFC Board Member and Oklahoma University medical student, Ian Peake.

After Texas’s ban, known as SB8, took effect in September, about 45% of residents who traveled out of state for abortion services went to Oklahoma to obtain care despite that state’s myriad restrictions, including a 72-hour waiting period between an initial consultation and the procedure.

“Even before all the changes that were happening down in Texas in particular, Tulsa felt like somewhat of a safe haven for a lot of patients,” said Ian Peake, a medical student in Oklahoma and a representative of the advocacy group Medical Students for Choice. “When SB8 hit in Texas, it was like getting hit with a tidal wave here.” The parking lot at the clinic where he receives medical training as a volunteer — neither of Oklahoma’s medical schools offer such training — was filled with cars, he said[…]