The author of the report, Esme E. Deprez, found that since 2011 at least 162 abortion providers have closed down or stopped providing service, while just 21 opened nationwide.
“At no time since before 1973, when the US Supreme Court legalized abortion, has a woman’s ability to terminate a pregnancy been more dependent on her zip code or financial resources to travel,” Deprez wrote.
The state hardest hit is Texas, where far-reaching fundamentalist regulations were passed in 2013 that are currently being appealed to the Supreme Court. At least 30 clinics in Texas have shut their doors across the state. In second place was Iowa, which lost 14 clinics, and Michigan losing 13.
The author noted that no region was exempt from closures, though some areas were more affected than others. Interestingly, the highly liberal state of California lost 12 clinics. Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Washington, DC, also saw closures.
In five states, including Missouri, only a single clinic for the entire state remains.
