In response to patients traveling from out of state to receive abortions, Planned Parenthood is launching its first-ever mobile abortion clinic.

In the Midwest, Illinois and Minnesota are the only states that have protected abortion rights following the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Planned Parenthood's new mobile unit will operate at the southern border of Illinois, where abortion is legal, and could even travel into areas of Missouri, where the procedure is banned.

Colleen McNicholas, chief medical officer at Planned Parenthood in the southern region of Missouri and Illinois, told The Washington Post that before the SCOTUS ruling, about 4 percent of patients treated by her clinic travelled from outside of the area. Now, that number is around 40 percent.

McNicholas shared: “I can’t tell you the number of patients I’ve seen get in their cars at 2 a.m. and drive nine hours here, and then have to get back in their car immediately afterward and drive nine hours back."

According to McNicholas, several out-of-state patients travel from Texas, which has one of the strictest abortion bans in the country, completely banning the procedure at any stage of pregnancy with no exceptions for sexual assault. Due to the recent influx of patients, clinics have become overwhelmed

“Pre-decision, we were able to get folks in for abortion care in about two to three days," McNicholas said. "Now it’s about two to three weeks.”

The crisis motivated Planned Parenthood to create the mobile unit, which will be fully operational by the end of this year. The 37-foot RV will have a fully functional exam room, a patient waiting room, and even a lab for analysis. McNicholas said that the unit will be able to "provide the full spectrum of services" as a stand clinic.

“It truly mimics the experience one might have at one of our smaller health centers,” she said.

While the mobile unit can only perform abortions on pregnancies of up to 11 weeks, it will be equipped to perform surgical first-trimester abortions by early next year.

It is unknown how the mobile unit will operate under Missouri law. States such as Texas have also implemented "bounty laws," where anyone who receives an abortion or assists a patient receiving one can be sued by private citizens for violating the law. While California has passed a law protecting patients who travel from states with bounty laws, other states have yet to adopt similar protections.

It remains unclear how Planned Parenthood's mobile unit will stand in higher courts. Conflicting state laws may complicate rulings, but as SCOTUS stands now, abortion rights likely will remain under attack from judicial institutions.

“At the most fundamental level, we as Americans deserve access to basic health care where we live,” McNicholas said. “And we’re in a situation where potentially half of the country will have abdicated its responsibility to basic lifesaving health care.”