“If you look at people in the southernmost parts of Texas and Louisiana—even if people pay for them—they cannot get to an unrestricted state in a day,” Autry told The Daily Beast. “If you’re a single parent, or a sole caregiver, or you just can’t take time away from your family, or it’s not workable for your life, then this may be the closest, quickest way for you to get care.”
Autry’s plan is to purchase a vessel and retrofit it to clinical standards so that doctors on board can provide everything from STI testing and treatment, to contraceptives, to surgical abortions. Militaries and Mercy Ships have been offering medical care for years at sea. Autry added that there’s no reason to think that procedures “would be more complicated in a clinic on water than a clinic on land.”
Once PRROWESS sources a vessel, Autry predicted it will be able to set sail within a year and provide care for up to 20 patients a day. The boat will be anchored offshore, and patients would have to find their own way of getting to the clinic, which could be up to two hours away by water taxi.
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