May 28—CUMBERLAND — A new Allegany County clinic that will soon offer several medical services including abortion and gender-affirming hormone therapy has received “overwhelming support from Mountain Marylanders,” said Katie Quinonez, executive director of the facility.
The Women’s Health Center of Maryland is set to open late June or early July, and plans to employ about 10 people, she said.
“On day one, we will offer medication and procedural abortion into the second trimester, as well as comprehensive contraception and (sexually transmitted disease) testing and treatment,” Quinonez said via email.
“Within the first six months, our goal is to introduce additional services, including annual exams, breast and cervical cancer screenings, and gender-affirming hormone care,” she said.
“We will offer a patient assistance fund to help people pay for abortion care and offer all preventive healthcare on a sliding scale to make sure these essential services are as accessible as possible because we are committed to the health and wellness of this community,” Quinonez said.
Officials for the health center have met with dozens of community members and leaders who work in the areas of faith, local government, health care, harm reduction, intimate partner violence, racial justice, LGBTQIA+ resources and more, she said.
Those groups shared a common sentiment, Quinonez said.
“This region needs more access to reproductive healthcare,” she said.
The center will be located in the former Mountainview Healthcare building, 17202 McMullen Highway.
The building, which spans more than 6,000 square feet, needed updates including new flooring, drywall patching and paint throughout, Quinonez said.
“Additionally, some construction was needed in the exam rooms,” she said.
Because the facility was already used for health services, everything was in place for permitting purposes, Allegany County Administrator Jason M. Bennett said via email.
“From the county’s perspective, the health center has everything needed to open,” he said.
Red v. Blue
The Women’s Health Center in March announced its nearly $700,000 purchase of the former Mountainview building, roughly five miles from the West Virginia border.
The news came after deeply conservative lawmakers in West Virginia passed a near-total abortion ban.
Dozens of independent clinics across the country have been forced to close their doors since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
“At least 66 clinics in 15 states have stopped providing abortions since the decision,” according to The Associated Press. “The number of clinics providing abortions in those 15 states dropped from 79 to 13 by October of last year, with the remaining clinics in Georgia.”
When West Virginia lawmakers passed their sweeping abortion ban, several members of the Republican majority said they hoped it would force the Women’s Health Center of West Virginia to shut down, the AP reported.
Republican Sen. Robert Karnes said he believed shuttering the center was “going to save a lot of babies,” and Brandon Steele, a Republican in the state’s House of Delegates, called abortion access “a scar” and “a curse” lawmakers had to “remove from this land,” according to the AP.
While Maryland is Democratic-controlled, Allegany County is remarkably not.
According to the state elections board, 65.19% of Allegany County voters cast a ballot for Republican Dan Cox in the 2022 gubernatorial general election.
Roughly 68% of county voters chose Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, the New York Times reported.
In April, some pro-life advocates attended an Allegany County Board of Commissioners meeting to oppose plans for the Women’s Health Center.
“This clinic is not meant for our hometown and this center should not be endorsed by any of our community leaders or given any of our taxpayers’ dollars,” Allegany County resident Morgan Whitmer said at the time.
Whitmer also spoke against the use of gender-affirming hormone therapy.
“Men cannot be women and women cannot be men,” she said.
‘Range of health care’
The significance of the health center’s opening in Allegany County is that “it will provide a range of reproductive health services for all people in an otherwise reproductive healthcare desert,” Cresta Kowalski, chairperson of the Mountain Maryland Alliance for Reproductive Freedom, said via email.
The center will offer contraception, pre-exposure prophylaxis, pregnancy support and emergency contraception “to our community on a sliding scale to enable people to afford their health care and not have to go without,” she said.
“The negative messaging focuses on surgical abortions, which will be offered up to 16 weeks and is right protected in the state of Maryland,” Kowalski said. “Yet, it is not the only health care that will be offered and should not be the sole focus of the services provided by the WHC.”
The health center will create jobs in the area, “and people will come to Allegany County seeking asylum from their states where their rights are being stripped away for simple reproductive health care needs,” Kowalski said.
“The arrival of the WHC is positive for the people of Allegany County and will be welcomed by those who will come from bordering states to seek fair and compassionate reproductive health care,” she said.
“Many of us in Mountain Maryland ask our neighbors to use decency and to treat those using the services of this clinic to make the very best decisions on their health, their families, their future, and their livelihood without interference and without judgement,” said Judy A. Carbone, secretary and treasurer of Mountain Maryland Alliance for Reproductive Freedom. “Give them grace and give them empathy.”
Teresa McMinn is a reporter for the Cumberland Times-News. She can be reached at 304-639-2371 or tmcminn@times-news.com.
