The Washington Post on Friday profiled abortion provider Carol Ball, who travels from her home state of Minnesota to offer the procedure at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Sioux Falls, S.D. No South Dakota doctor has performed elective abortions in the state since 1994. The Planned Parenthood affiliate in Minneapolis coordinates the schedules of Ball and three other providers who each travel to staff the clinic about one day per week. Some women in the state drive as many as five hours to reach the clinic, according to the Post. Ball, who began working with Planned Parenthood in 1980, also serves as the medical director of Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota. She is accompanied by security personnel on her visits to South Dakota but says she has not received threats against her life.

Ball's work "is framed by worry and frustration -- and the knowledge that the politics remain as unsettled as ever," according to the Post. Events such as the murder of abortion provider George Tiller are reminders that "[t]his is a difficult time for Ball and her colleagues," the Post reports. In South Dakota, state law requires women to listen to a "script" about abortion written by lawmakers, and they must meet with clinic staff one day before a surgical or medical abortion. On the day of the procedure, they must listen to additional information and wait another two hours. Ball said doctors and staff have always thoroughly discussed abortion with patients. "I tell women that we don't do abortions for boyfriends or husbands or mothers or best friends," she said, adding, "We do abortions for women who want them."

Ball also said the restrictions on abortion included in health reform legislation "mak[e] me less optimistic about the future. It makes me tired." She added, "I just have a very deep conviction that we're right and [opponents are] wrong. And they as honestly believe that they're right and we're wrong" (Slevin, Washington Post, 2/26).

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