The Care Behind West Virginia Abortion Billboards

By Traci Phillips | Black By God — The West Virginian

A national campaign highlights a Charleston clinic and the support still available to West Virginians, including Black women and other people of color.

Sponsored content supported by Shout Your Abortion.

For Black women and other people of color in West Virginia, finding reproductive health care can bring questions about cost, transportation and privacy. After the state’s near-total abortion ban, there is another question to sort through: Where can people still turn for help?

A billboard campaign from Shout Your Abortion and Women’s Health Center of West Virginia offers a starting point. Its message, “You Always Have Options,” is meant to connect residents with abortion support and highlight a Charleston clinic that continues serving the community.

In a recent BBG TV interview, Amelia Bonow, executive director of Shout Your Abortion, discussed barriers facing people in underserved communities, including Black and Brown people and those living in poverty. She also raised concerns about undocumented people who are afraid to travel across state lines.

“There’s no one option that’s best for everybody,” Bonow said.

That makes access to information part of the conversation. The campaign directs people toward resources for finding care, understanding available options and getting support with costs or travel.

For Erin Dunmore, development director of Women’s Health Center of West Virginia, the partnership is also an opportunity to remind residents that the clinic remains open.

“We are still here, and we are still providing our patients with medically accurate information so they can make the best decision for their own life and their own body,” Dunmore said.

The center marked its 50th anniversary this year. West Virginia’s abortion restrictions changed what it could provide in Charleston, but its work continued. A sister clinic in Cresaptown, Maryland, opened in September 2023 to provide abortion care for West Virginians and others in the region. 

On Charleston’s West Side, patients can still receive gynecological and wellness exams, birth control, emergency contraception, pregnancy confirmation and ultrasounds, STI testing and treatment, and cancer screenings.

The clinic also provides HIV testing and prevention medication known as PrEP. Dunmore said its services include gender-affirming hormone therapy and harm reduction, including overdose prevention, naloxone education and access, and hepatitis C testing.

For someone unsure about a pregnancy or how to navigate care, Dunmore said the center’s role is to provide information without steering the decision.

“We don’t guide anyone in one particular direction,” she said. “We just give them all the available information so that they can make the best choice for them.”

Bonow said the partnership grew from her organization’s appreciation for independent clinics. These community providers can have less name recognition than larger organizations, she explained, while remaining important sources of care.

Shout Your Abortion began in 2015 after Bonow shared her abortion story online. Its work now includes storytelling, reducing stigma and connecting people with resources.

The campaign’s website, YouAlwaysHaveOptions.com⁠, brings together information about clinics, financial and travel assistance, and medical, emotional and legal support. Pills by mail are among the options Bonow discussed; she emphasized that people should understand potential legal risks. The Repro Legal Helpline offers free, confidential legal services at 844-868-2812. 

For Dunmore, the message reaches beyond the life of a billboard.

“We’ve been here for fifty years,” she said. “We’re planning to be here for another fifty.”