Missouri Abortion Business Closes After Fighting New Pro-Life Law 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 24, 2005
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — The only abortion business in Springfield, Missouri has closed down after leading a legal battle to invalidate a new pro-life law approved by the state legislature. The Springfield Health Care Center unexpectedly closed Thursday.
Gov. Matt Blunt (R) signed the bill into law in September after calling a special session of the legislature for it.
The measure, in part, calls on abortion facilities to make sure anyone performing abortions has admitting privileges at a local hospital, within 30 miles of the abortion center, in cases of botched abortions where the mother needs immediate medical attention or surgery.
The abortion practitioner at the Springfield abortion facility did not have admitting privileges at any hospital there, but did have them in St. Louis which is much further away.
The Center for Reproductive Rights, a pro-abortion New York law firm, had filed a case on Springfield Health Care Center’s behalf seeking to overturn the law. The clinic won a temporary stay last month from U.S. District Judge Nanette Laughrey blocking the law from going into effect.
However, the board of the abortion business on Wednesday decided to permanently shut down the abortion facility.
Michelle Collins, the administrator of the abortion business, told the Springfield News-Leader newspaper the decision was permanent and had nothing to do with the law, finances or botched abortions.
"It’s just so difficult to provide abortions for patients here when there’s zero support from the medical community," Collins said.
Collins told the Springfield newspaper the abortion center performed about 1,000 abortions annually. The nearest abortion center is in Columbia and there are abortion facilities in St. Louis, which is more than 200 miles away.
As a result of the closing, the lawsuit will be dropped and the law will now take effect.
