More than 60 clinics stop performing abortions in the US: investigation

At least 66 clinics in 15 states have stopped providing abortions since the US Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision, according to an analysis released Thursday.

The number of clinics performing abortions in the 15 states dropped from 79 before the June 24 ruling to just 13 on Oct. 2, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights. .

The remaining 13 clinics are in Georgia. The other states do not have centers that offer the possibility of abortion, although some provide other services beyond.

Nationwide, in 2020 there were more than 800 clinics where abortions were performed, the institute noted.

“Much more research will need to be done to understand the full extent of the chaos, confusion and damage that the United States Supreme Court has unleashed for people who need abortions, but the picture that is beginning to emerge should alarm anyone who supports the reproductive freedom and the right to bodily autonomy,” said Rachel Jones, a Guttmacher researcher.

The new report does not include data on hospitals and medical offices that performed abortions and stopped doing so as a result of the court decision, but Jones pointed out that, in the country, the procedure is carried out mainly in clinics, both the intervention and the dispensing of abortion medications. Recent data from Guttmacher showed that just over half of pregnancy terminations in the United States are performed with drugs.

States without abortion facilities are concentrated in the South. In some of those places, women would have to travel so far that travel would be impossible, Jones said.

Dr. Jeanne Corwin, who performs abortions in Indiana and Ohio, said closing the clinics “will do untold damage to women’s physical, mental and financial health.”

In several states, access to the procedure is threatened because the veto on termination of pregnancy was only temporarily suspended by court orders. This occurs in Indiana, Ohio and South Carolina, according to the analysis.

“This is precarious from a medical standpoint and certainly from a commercial standpoint,” said Dr. Katie McHugh, a gynecologist who performs abortions in Indiana. “It’s hard to keep the doors open and the lights on when you don’t know if you’re going to be a criminal tomorrow.”

[Con información de The Associated Press]

Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channel Youtube and turn on notifications, or follow us on social media: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.