New wave of abortion clinic closings after Roe v. Wade overturned
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Around 60% of clinics offering abortions in the 11 states that have either near-total or six-week abortion bans have shut down in the month after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, according to a new report from the Guttmacher Institute.
The big picture: Since the court's ruling, 14 states in total have moved to ban nearly all abortions or restrict access to them. In total, at least 26 states are "certain or likely" to ban abortion now that Roe is no longer in place — and more clinics are expected to close.
- While clinics that offer abortion offer other reproductive health services, many of them depend financially on abortion care.
- Patients in need of abortion care that live in states without clinics will be forced to self-manage their abortion, carry their pregnancies to term or travel out-of-state, which might not be possible for those who cannot to leave.
By the numbers: The 11 states that Guttmacher looked at — Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas — had a total of 71 clinics that provided abortion care before June 24.
- As of July 24, there were only 28 clinics offering abortions, all located in the states that have six-week abortion bans (Georgia, Ohio, South Carolina and Tennessee), Guttmacher found.
Zoom in: Texas, where the state's pre-Roe, near-total abortion ban is being enforced, had the most clinic closures, with 23 in total. It was followed by Alabama, which lost five clinics; Oklahoma, which also lost five; and Arkansas, which lost two.
- Mississippi, Missouri and South Dakota — all of which had "trigger" laws that took effect shortly after the court's decision — each had one abortion clinic, and they have all shut down.
- In the states with six-week abortion bans, only Tennessee (prior to the decision, the state had seven and now it has three) and Georgia (it had 14 and now has 13) lost clinics. The number of clinics in Ohio and South Carolina remain unchanged.
What we're watching: Some clinics that have shut down are in the process of moving their operations to states where abortion access is protected.
Go deeper: Abortions have been increasing since 2017, new data shows
