Pam Stevens, who lost her 44-year-old son Adam to a drug overdose, lives a block from the Women’s Health Center. She believes the program will unintendedly enable those who are addicted.
Danni Dineen, who contracted hepatitis C from intravenous drug use, said a syringe service program she attended in the throes of her addiction was about more than getting access to needles. Addictions specialists built up a trust and rapport with her, and ultimately helped get her into treatment. Such programs exist nationwide, but they are not without critics, who say they don’t do enough to prevent drug use. That’s despite CDC research showing people with syringe service are more likely to recover.offers a syringe service, but it is only a small component of the organization’s services, which target underinsured populations.
In the year since the abortion prohibition, executive director Katie Quinonez spearheaded the launch of the Women’s Health Center of Maryland, a sister clinic directly across the state border.providers can refer people to the Maryland clinic and cover the procedure cost using its abortion fund. The program would operate under restrictions outlined in state and city code, but with some provisions attempting to make it more accessible, like allowing people without state-issued IDs to use letters from homeless shelters or rehab.