It’s in the middle of nowhere, but the owner of the Yale Hotel in a town with about 2,000 residents, is attempting to make it a destination for women who want to terminate lives of their babies without having to deal with restrictive new laws in states like Georgia, Missouri, and Alabama, where heartbeat bills have recently been passed.
According to their Facebook page, the hotel is offering a free stay, as well as transportation to and from the abortion facility. The closest abortion facility to the hotel is 44 miles away, according to the Planned Parenthood website.
We attempted to reach the hotel to determine the cost of a two-night stay at the Yale Hotel, our call went to voicemail. Nearby hotels in neighboring Port Huron, MI range from $75 night – $164/ night. We checked with an Uber fare calculator and found a round trip from the hotel to the nearest Planned Parenthood is going to cost the hotel owner a minimum of around $108.
The heartbeat bill denies a woman the right to an abortion after a fetal heartbeat has been detected. Republicans in Michigan are attempting to pass a similar bill. Michigan’s new Democrat governor, Gretchen Whitmer has vowed to veto such a bill if it makes it to her desk.
From the Daily Mail -The Yale Hotel announced the offer in a Facebook post last month in response to a flood of legislation restricting access to the procedure in conservative states including Georgia, Ohio, Missouri, and Alabama.
‘Dear sisters that live in Alabama, Ohio, Georgia, Arkansas, Missouri, or any of the other states that follow with similar laws restricting access, we cannot do anything about the way you are being treated in your home-state,’ hotel manager Shelley O’Brien wrote.
‘But, if you can make it to Michigan, we will support you with several nights lodging and transportation to and from your appointment.’
As the post gained traction online, O’Brien said she was contacted by a number of people offering to drive women in need up to Yale, a largely-conservative town of less than 2,000 people about 67 miles north of Detroit.
‘We’ve got some amazing people in our village… we’ve got your backs,’ O’Brien, a mother of three, wrote on Facebook.
Over the weekend O’Brien revealed that no one has taken her up on the offer yet, but she has a room ready for anyone who needs it.
O’Brien says no one has taken her up on her offer so far, but that she has a room ready just in case. She’s calling it ‘Jane’s Room’ after Jane Roe, the pseudonym for plaintiff Norma McCorvey in the landmark Supreme Court case Roe v Wade.
Norma McCorvey (Jane Roe)
Following the ruling, McCorvey lived a quiet life until the 1980s when she revealed herself to be Jane Roe. McCorvey became a leading, outspoken pro-abortion voice in American discourse, even working at a women’s clinic where abortions were performed.
However, she performed an unlikely U-turn in 1995, becoming a born again Christian and began traveling the country speaking out against the procedure.
In 2003, she filed a motion to overturn her original 1973 ruling with the U.S. district court in Dallas. The motion moved through the courts until it was ultimately denied by the Supreme Court in 2005.
McCorvey died at an assisted living home in Texas in February 2017, aged 69.
The Yale Hotel’s Facebook page features a photo of a toddler climbing through what appears to be a front door of the hotel. Comments on the Facebook post include:
The irony here about posting a picture of a child is that this hotel supports abortion…
Odd photo of a toddler. Lucky the hotel didn’t help its mother go to a planned parenthood facility.
https://www.facebook.com/theyalehotel/photos/rpp.253522131513573/1027791530753292/?type=3&theater
What do you think about this offer to help women terminate the lives of their children after a heartbeat is detected? What about unaccompanied teens? Will the hotel welcome them as well? Tell us what you think in the comment section below.
