CARBONDALE, Ill. 鈥 Addison Pesek sits on the curb of a 1950s-era Dairy Queen, the small ice cream shop鈥檚 neon glow washing over her and her family on a recent summer evening.
Dozens of local residents wait in line to order from the Carbondale staple as the 22-year-old enjoys a cup of ice cream with her 5-year-old daughter Kinley in her lap, murmuring how she鈥檚 excited to start school in the fall.
鈥淚 want to learn about space,鈥 Kinley says. 鈥淚 want to be an astronaut.鈥
Pesek says she was very young when she had her first child, but a stable support system is what got her through challenging times. She said she realizes not everyone has the same privilege and is all too familiar with Carbondale鈥檚 latest hot-button debate 鈥 abortion clinics coming to town.
"I personally believe that it would be a good decision," she said of the possibility of abortion providers choosing to open clinics in Carbondale. 鈥淎t the end of the day, it鈥檚 your body. As a woman, we have to go through that, nobody else.鈥
Heather Pesek, Addison鈥檚 mother, is a patient care technician at a local hospital and said she is more conflicted. 鈥淚 don't believe in abortion,鈥 the emergency room technician said, adding that discussing the topic has been taboo in some southern Illinois circles. 鈥淚t is kind of a quiet subject.鈥
Heather and Addison's belief that the decision should be up to the individual is common here. And it's shared by the majority of Americans, . Tuesday鈥檚 resounding vote in Kansas that would have stripped away abortion protections is consistent with that finding.
Carbondale is set to become the closest place to seek an abortion for millions of residents throughout the Midwest and South, following the June U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which gave states authority to restrict abortion access.
Expanding access
Illinois鈥 Democratic supermajority in 2019 in response to restrictions other states had been imposing. Gov. J.B. Pritzker doubled down after the Dobbs decision, and ensure the state will 鈥渟upport every woman鈥檚 right to reproductive freedom.鈥
Abortion access has been stymied in neighboring states, making the Land of Lincoln a haven for those seeking reproductive health care. In and , abortion rights have been swiftly banned or severely restricted, with large swaths of the Midwest and South following.
鈥淲hen they announced the Dobbs case, we knew that meant that we were likely going to lose access to abortion in Tennessee within the next 12 months,鈥 said Jennifer Pepper, the chief executive at CHOICES, a comprehensive reproductive health clinic based in Memphis.
So, Pepper and her team started planning how they could expand their services. Finding a location that could serve as a critical access point for abortion care was top of mind.
In trying to pinpoint where to locate, a few things came to mind 鈥 her knowledge of southern Illinois from growing up in the Metro East, having friends who went to Southern Illinois University, and hopping on the train in Memphis to visit them in Carbondale during her college days.
Carbondale will , which is the first stop in Illinois coming north 鈥 connecting New Orleans and Chicago.
"I stared at a map and it just kind of all came to me and (I) said to my team 鈥 'I think it's this town, in Carbondale," she said. 鈥淐arbondale had this opportunity to be a critical access point for the entire southeastern United States.鈥
Pepper isn鈥檛 the only one expanding reproductive health care in the college town roughly 50 miles from Illinois鈥 southern border. Dr. Alan Braid, who ban last fall, his practice here.
Homegrown opposition
Not everyone is thrilled with Carbondale鈥檚 potential to become a welcoming place for people seeking abortion services, and the idea is bringing up memories from decades ago.
In 1985, the privately owned Carbondale Memorial Hospital voted to end . George Maroney, the hospital鈥檚 administrator at the time, said the community in and around Carbondale was split on the issue 鈥 a third supported abortion rights, another third wanted to ban the practice entirely and the final third didn鈥檛 care.
Recalling the board鈥檚 decision from his Carbondale home, the now-retired Maroney said he believes the influence of the greater region and subsequent protests surrounding abortion rights was what ultimately pushed the board鈥檚 decision.
"It was just the pressure of people in the community," he said. "I didn't see the board members having strong convictions one way or the other, but push come to shove, 鈥極K, we'll go and stop abortions.鈥"
Southern Illinois Healthcare, the private non-for-profit which owns Carbondale Memorial Hospital, declined multiple requests to comment on current practices.
As before, community members who oppose abortion, many from surrounding towns, expressed their ire about providers choosing to open clinics in Carbondale, this time using social media in addition to public comments at Carbondale City Council meetings.
鈥淚 do not want to see the abortion industry bring another abortion clinic to Carbondale,鈥 said Donna Glaub, who has lived in the city for nearly 50 years. 鈥淚f that鈥檚 what they think Carbondale is going to become and the new train station is going to become the hub 鈥 it doesn鈥檛 hit your heart right.鈥
One local pastor even called for the death penalty for doctors who perform the procedure.
鈥淚nstead of the death penalty being handed down to the innocent party, the baby, the death penalty should come upon the evil man that committed that violence,鈥 said Justin Sparks, a pastor at Christ Church in Carbondale who has also pushed anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and opposition to the coronavirus vaccine on social media.
Carbondale Mayor Mike Henry, who has been labeled a moderate Republican, buckled to the wave of anti-abortion comments during a May 25 council meeting.
鈥淵ou folks can demonstrate and maybe they won't come here if they understand that the community is truly, truly against them,鈥 he said.
When pro-abortion access residents confronted the mayor about his comments in a subsequent meeting, some having interpreted them as advocating for violence, he apologized and said his intention was never to do so.
鈥淚 was simply saying protesters can protest peacefully against anything they want. It鈥檚 Carbondale for goodness sakes,鈥 Henry responded, alluding to the town鈥檚 history of protests and activism. 鈥淚 believe, like I鈥檝e said, in women鈥檚 rights to health care and the right to abortion.鈥
Henry, City Manager Gary Williams and Police Chief Stan Reno declined to be interviewed for this story.
In a written statement, city spokeswoman Roni LeForge said the impact several new clinics will have on Carbondale is unclear, but the city's focus will be on protecting businesses operating legally in town. The local police department will not increase its staff size in response to the reproductive health clinics opening.
The geopolitical split
Democrats and liberal-leaning viewpoints have been losing their foothold outside of Illinois鈥 city centers, mirroring the national shift in geopolitical alignment the past several decades.
鈥泪濒濒颈苍辞颈蝉 into a pitched battle of the party bases in the 21st century,鈥 writes John Jackson, a visiting professor at SIU鈥檚 Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, in a paper detailing the region's geopolitical shift.
Jackson said the Republican Party has capitalized on rural voters and conservative values, with Democrats trading geography for voters over the past several decades.
鈥Now the South is the bedrock of the Republican Party, and really, in basic respects, it鈥檚 still about God, guns and the gays and a few other things that we now call the culture wars 鈥 including the abortion issue,鈥 he said.
Paige Dycus, a 19-year-old from neighboring Herrin, Illinois, shared similar sentiments.
鈥淲e're like the South of the north,鈥 she said while stretched out on a blanket at one of Carbondale's Sunset Concerts on a recent summer evening. 鈥淲e still have some more conservative-type leaning policies, like attitudes towards most things, but we are in Illinois.鈥
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Dycus said she was angry to hear about the Supreme Court overturning Roe and has even protested the decision. There was excitement within her circles, she said, when providers began announcing they would be opening up clinics locally.
鈥淚t was just kind of a relief to know that we were going to step up to the plate and provide access, not only access to only our area, but to other people who need it,鈥 Dycus said.
As the spotlight shines on the debate surrounding abortion rights, pressure from the largely Republican communities surrounding Carbondale can鈥檛 stop outside providers from coming into the state.
City Councilman Adam Loos said that those speaking out against abortion access are a minority of his constituents and that he emphasizes the city鈥檚 hands are legally tied.
鈥淲hat I鈥檝e told them, speaking for myself rather than for the city, is that even if there were something (to do) 鈥 I wouldn鈥檛 participate in it,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 a majority for it.鈥
Pepper said the precarious geopolitical situation is an environment CHOICES has always existed in. Shelby County, Tenn., which includes Memphis, is decidedly Democratic like Jackson County, Ill., but its surrounding counties are ruby red. Still, she remains optimistic for the future.
鈥泪濒濒颈苍辞颈蝉 feels a little like the land of milk and honey for us,鈥 she said, noting the state's legislative support of abortion rights. 鈥淏eing surrounded by hostility is not new to us. It鈥檚 something we manage and deal with because our patients need access to abortion, and we鈥檙e committed to providing that.鈥
Brian Munoz is a staff photojournalist and multimedia reporter at 漏 2024 外网天堂. You can reach him by email at bmunoz@stlpr.org and follow his work on Instagram and Twitter at .