![]() Chelian had an abortion in 1966 at age 15, seven years before Roe v. Renee Chelian in one of the Northland Family Planning clinics she helped build. Across Michigan, there are more than two dozen clinics that provide abortions. Northland now has three locations in the greater Detroit region. After this conversation, we'll never discuss it again.'" "'You can never tell anyone, because no man will ever marry you if he knows that this has happened,'" Chelian recalled her father telling her afterward. She had undergone an illegal abortion at age 15, back in 1966, seven years before Roe v. Northland was started in 1976 by Renee Chelian. Melissa had swept her hair into a loose bun, and pulled her hands inside the sleeves of her sweatshirt. The patients here wait quietly, and alone - no spouses, no boyfriends, no family or friends. On the walls are inspirational quotes, including "Good women get abortions." And "Brave, beautiful women have been where you are right now." The TV is set to the cheerful chatter of women remodeling their modern farmhouses on HGTV. Big windows look out on tall pines bending in the breeze. The Northland waiting room is built to feel welcoming, even pretty. This story was produced in partnership with Kaiser Health News. NPR agreed to not to use full names for all the patients interviewed in this story because of the intimate medical information discussed concerning a highly politicized and controversial issue. "I was so relieved, after the struggle," Melissa says, "Because I had to sit with for weeks." By the time she arrived at Northland, she was 14 weeks pregnant. ![]() For nearly three months, Melissa says, she had been trying - and failing - to find an abortion closer to home. Melissa is part of a record surge of abortion patients pouring into Michigan since Roe v. check-in at the front desk of Northland Family Planning in Sterling Heights, Mich. But just a few hours later, she had arrived on time for her 8 a.m. She drove overnight from Ohio to Michigan, and didn't reach her hotel until 3 a.m. ![]() The night before her abortion, Melissa had to travel to another state. Audrey Lance, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Northland Family Planning, knew she wanted to provide abortion care since the day her school's chapter of Medical Students for Choice went to a reproductive rights rally. ![]()
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