With the introduction of radical new abortion restrictions in the US, abortion clinics have been closing at a record rate.

With the introduction of radical new abortion restrictions in the US, abortion clinics have been closing at a record rate. As Bloomberg reports, at least 58 US clinics – 10% of the total – have shut down or stopped providing the procedure since 2011. Clinics are struggling to adhere to strict new regulations for operating rooms and medical equipment.

Five clinics have closed in Pennsylvania since the introduction of new regulations in 2011. New laws passed in Texas – requiring abortion clinics to become outpatient centres and doctors to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals – are putting immense pressure on clinic owners. Three facilities have shut in the state since the laws were past in July this year. 

“This kind of change is incredibly dramatic,” said Elizabeth Nash of the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health research organization. “What we’ve been seeing since 1982 was a slow decline, but this kind of change … [is] so different from what’s happened in the past.” 

Xavier Symons
Creative commons
abortion