Floating abortion clinic proposed for Gulf of Mexico — but Alabama governor prefers offshore drilling

An innovative proposal for a $20 million floating abortion clinic in the federal waters off the Gulf of Mexico has been scorned in a way that only a Southern governor can.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said Monday she’d rather see more offshore drilling in those waters. In a statement to AL.com Monday, the governor’s spokeswoman Gina Maiola said, “We need offshore drilling, not abortions.”

The floating abortion clinic would provide a way to maintain access for people in southern states where abortion bans have been enacted, said the woman behind the idea, Dr. Meg Autry, an obstetrician and gynecologist and a professor at the University of California San Francisco.

Autry is proposing to place the clinic aboard a ship in federal waters, and out of reach of state laws, that would offer first trimester surgical abortions, contraception and other care, the Associated Press reported.

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“There’s been an assault on reproductive rights in our country and I’m a lifelong advocate for reproductive health and choice” Autry told the AP. “We have to create options and be thoughtful and creative to help people in restrictive states get the health care they deserve.”

Autry told San Francisco news media that it will take an estimated $20 million dollars to get the clinic afloat, including retrofitting a boat - and initial costs of patient care, ABC7news.com reported.

"I think a somewhat optimistic but realistic timeline would be a year," said Autry. "And a dream would be six to eight months." When asked, what would have to happen for it to happen in six to eight months, she responded: "Someone would have to donate a vessel tomorrow."

And while she's ready to go, the doctor is also readying for a load of legal challenges.

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"We have a legal team consisting of The Lawyering Project that basically fights for reproductive health and equitable care," she said, fulling expecting some rough waters ahead. We also have maritime lawyers, defense lawyers and we anticipate legal challenges throughout this entire journey."

As the report at al.com suggested, those lawyers can expect to have their hands full. Alabama State Senator Chris Elliott, R-Daphne, called the idea a “publicity stunt” that would run afoul of state law.

“One of the problems with trying to get around state law by going offshore is you have to come back to port,” said Elliott. “You cannot break state law and then come back to a port where you have broken the law. That would preclude most Gulf Coast area(s).”

But a far bigger source of resistance would be Alabama’s love for federal money from offshore drilling. Alabama received $41 last year from the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 (GOMESA), al.com reported.

“GOMESA sets aside 37.5% of federal royalties from new Gulf oil and natural gas drilling leases for the four Gulf oil-producing states – Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. The funds can be used for coastal conservation projects, coastal preservation projects and for hurricane protection.”