I'm probably going to regret reopening this, but this is a rather comprehensive list of all the nuances of American waiting periods, counseling, etc.:
https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/counseling-and-waiting-periods-abortion
The Guttmacher Institute (per their About page) "is a leading research and policy organization committed to advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) worldwide."
So let's talk about South Dakota, where there's a 72 hour waiting period and, tellingly, weekends and annual state holidays don't count. Hence a woman trying to get an abortion on the Friday afternoon before Memorial Day weekend would have to wait nearly a full week. How do I get that much time?
1 Sat of Memorial Day weekend
2 Sun of Memorial Day weekend
3 Memorial Day
4 first 24 hours of 72
5 second 24 hours of 72
6 third 24 hours of 72
South Dakota also has only 1 provider (according to Planned Parenthood, see:
https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/planned-parenthood-south-dakota-advocate/issues/abortion) and bans the procedure after 20 weeks. If Memorial Day weekend is the middle of the 19th week for our hypothetical above, the waiting period will kick her out of being able to get an abortion.
North Dakota, in contrast, has only a 24 hour waiting period. But North and South Dakota are also both in the top 20 in terms of state size (see
https://statesymbolsusa.org/symbol-official-item/national-us/uncategorized/states-size). And for both states, there's a ton of open space and no public transportation beyond some buses.
A poor woman without a car or any vacation time is effectively banned from getting an abortion in either state.
The Guttmacher list also gets into what's being counseled. And some of it is just plain inaccurate, clearly meant to scare people.
I have little doubt that there are wonderful, caring counselors in a lot of the US who do their best while abiding by all legal requirements.
But I also have little doubt that there are counselors who aren't so caring, and who use the opportunity as a means of furthering their own agenda(s), whether those are anti- or pro-abortion. That's the nature of every profession, that there are people who really shouldn't be doing what they're doing.
Anyway, after dropping this here, I am going back to lurking.
This is a volatile subject at best. Let's try to be civilized, folks, please.
Thank you.