Since then, Roe v. Wade43 abortion clinics in 11 states were forced to halt offering abortions after the ruling was overturned.
Data from the Guttmacher Institute shows that in the seven states that are enforcing total abortion bans — Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas — there are no longer any clinics providing abortions. Some of these clinics have remained open, providing other services, while others have shut down completely. Texas is responsible for more than half the abortion clinics that were closed in the last month. Roe’s reversal, it had 23 abortion-providing clinics. Alabama and Oklahoma had previously five abortion clinics each. Arkansas had two abortion clinics, while the other three had one.
Tennessee is now banning abortions after six weeks. Four abortion clinics have been closed. This leaves only three providers. One of the 14 Georgia abortion clinics that provide the service has been shut down by Georgia, which is also enforcing its six-week abortion ban. The number and quality of abortion providers in Ohio (and South Carolina) remains the same. Access to abortion was already limited in Texas, where a six-week ban on abortions was implemented in September 2021. In Oklahoma, a ban inspired by Texas took effect in May.
The loss of these clinics demonstrates how many people are being impacted by the repeal of federal abortion protections. In 2020, the last year that no states enforced a six-week abortion ban — which effectively eliminates abortion access before most people know they are pregnant — 80,500 abortionsThe procedure was banned in seven states. More than half of those abortions — about 58,000 — took place in Texas, the second-largest state in the nation and the largest state to prohibit the procedure entirely.
Texas Planned Parenthood clinics will remain open. offering other formsIt covers all aspects of reproductive health care such as contraception and sexually transmitted disease care. Independent clinics are often more expensive than Planned Parenthoods. Clinics such as Whole Women’s Health and Alamo Women’s Reproductive Services have closed entirely and are planning to relocate to other states.
Some clinics that tried to offer other services are having financial difficulties. difficult to sustainSince the beginning, abortion has been a main source for revenue. In Tuscaloosa, the owner of West Alabama Women’s Center — which offers services like affordable prenatal care and HIV treatments — previously told The 19th that she wouldn’t be able to keep her clinic open past September.
Nevertheless, the loss in abortion-providing clinics is already evident put strains on providersIn neighboring states. Clinics in New Mexico are reporting wait times of three- to four weeks, which is close to Texas and Oklahoma. Clinics in Kansas and Illinois are also booking patients up to two weeks ahead. Colorado physicians are concerned that they may not be able visit every patient calling for an appointment to have an abortion.
Providers are concerned that patients who have to wait for several weeks may be forced further into their pregnancy. This could lead to more complicated and expensive abortions. Many are also concerned that there won’t be enough clinics in other states to accommodate all those who seek abortions due to the loss of providers.
“We don’t have 100 appointments a day,” Zach Gingrich-Gaylord, a spokesperson for Kansas’ Trust Women clinic, recently told The 19th. “The pressure is there to do much more with the same amount of appointments.”
