Report: At Least 66 Clinics in 15 States Have Stopped Abortion Services | Healthiest Communities Health News

It’s been just over 100 days since the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, and in that time at least 66 clinics across 15 states have been forced to stop providing abortions, according to a new analysis. This means that close to a third of American women of reproductive age are living in states where abortion is unavailable or restricted.

According to a report from the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights, in the months that have followed the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, many clinics stopped providing abortions while others closed altogether.

The report focuses on 15 states that were enforcing either total or six-week abortion bans as of Oct. 2. Cumulatively, the 15 states have a population of approximately 22 million women of reproductive age.

Before the Supreme Court’s decision, the 15 states in the report had a total of 79 clinics that provided abortion services. Today there are just 13 left, all of which are located in Georgia, according to the analysis. Twenty-six clinics closed entirely while another 40 remain open, providing other health services.

“Even before Roe was overturned, getting an abortion was difficult or outright impossible for many people, especially those who were already facing steep barriers to accessing health care, including people with low incomes, Black and Brown people, immigrants, young people, those with disabilities and rural populations,” the report said. “These inequities are likely to worsen as clinic-based abortion care disappears in many states, a number of them clustered in regions like the South.”

Of the 15 states analyzed in the report, 13 implemented total bans, meaning that clinics were forced to stop providing abortions. The two remaining states, Wisconsin and Georgia, face complicated legal situations. In Georgia, abortion is technically legal up to the first six weeks of pregnancy. Given that many women are unaware of their pregnancies that early, there are still challenges with providing abortions. In Wisconsin, all four of the state’s clinics have stopped providing abortions while continuing to provide other services, due to legal uncertainty around a pre-Roe abortion ban in the state.

It is likely the number of abortion clinics in the United States will continue to decrease, according to Guttmacher. Some states are likely to implement abortion bans in the coming year – either through ballot initiatives, legislative decisions or state courts approving previously challenged restrictions.

Indiana, Ohio and South Carolina have all had bans blocked by the courts, though the bans could go into effect when legal questions are resolved.

“Much more research will need to be conducted to grasp the full extent of the chaos, confusion and harm that the U.S. Supreme Court has unleashed on people needing abortions,” the report said. “But the picture that is starting to emerge should alarm anyone who supports reproductive freedom and the right to bodily autonomy.”