Abortion activists are wailing about the news that seven states have just one abortion clinic inside their borders.
In a piece for the women’s website Refinery 29, Lauren Holter treated it as bad news that so women do not have easy access to an abortion clinic. She blamed pro-life advocates and lawmakers for enacting laws that restrict the killing of unborn babies and hold abortion facilities accountable to basic health and safety standards.
The states with only one abortion facility are: Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming.
Pro-life lawmakers in Kentucky and Mississippi especially have been aggressive in working to protect unborn babies from abortion. Since his election, pro-life Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin has been cracking down on abortion facilities for operating outside of the law. Earlier this year, an abortion facility in Lexington shut down after Bevin’s administration caught it masquerading as a doctor’s office. State investigators said they also found numerous health and safety violations.
In 2016, Bevin’s administration also sued a new Planned Parenthood abortion facility in Louisville after catching it performing 23 abortions without a license, LifeNews reported.
Mississippi lawmakers also have passed a number of pro-life laws that prompted abortion clinics to close. In April, a pro-life pregnancy center opened right near the last abortion facility in the state, hoping to help women choose life for their unborn babies.
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Abortion activists blame pro-lifers for trying to save babies from abortion through laws and charities. They no longer talk about wanting abortions to be safe, legal and rare. They now boldly proclaim that they want easily accessible abortions without restriction through all nine months of pregnancy, paid for by our tax dollars. They equate abortion with health care and women’s rights, and try to hide how abortions destroy lives.
“Of course, states that have shut down all but a single clinic didn’t get there by accident, but as the result of deliberate steps to deny women access to constitutionally protected healthcare,” James Owens, a Planned Parenthood spokesperson, told Refinery29. “Unfortunately, these states are not alone, as there has been a concerted, nationwide effort to undermine a woman’s access to abortion for more than a decade.”
Pro-lifers have been instrumental in saving unborn babies and moms from abortion in many ways, not just through legislation. Pregnancy resource centers, sidewalk counselors, pro-life education organizations and others have helped support and inform women in their decisions to choose life for their babies. As a result, fewer women are choosing abortion.
A 2016 Bloomberg analysis suggested that abortion clinics are closing because demand for their deadly business is dropping. Abortion rates are falling to historic lows across America, including in liberal states where lawmakers promote abortion on demand. In 2014, abortions in the U.S. dropped below 1 million for the first time since 1975, the Guttmacher Institute reported.
The Bloomberg analysis also suggested that abortion clinics are closing because fewer doctors are willing to be abortionists. Several abortion facilities closed between 2011 and 2015 because they could not find a doctor willing to do abortions after their current one retired or was deemed “unfit” to practice, according to the report.
This is what appears to have been the case in West Virginia earlier this year. Kanawha Surgicenter, an abortion facility in Charleston, closed permanently on Jan. 17 after its abortionist, Gorli Harish, retired and moved to California. Apparently the abortion clinic either could not find another abortionist to replace him or did not think it profitable to continue the business. Now, West Virginia has just one remaining abortion clinic.
Abortion clinics in the United States are closing at a record pace. Between 2011 and 2015, at least 162 abortion clinics closed or stopped doing abortions; 21 new abortion clinics opened in the same time period, according to Bloomberg. A report from Operation Rescue also showed 53 abortion clinics closed in 2015 alone.
This year, even more abortion clinics have closed. Planned Parenthood announced plans to close 17 facilities across the U.S. this year, though not all of them performed abortions on site. Pennsylvania health officials also shut down an abortion facility this summer after finding numerous health and safety violations.
The news is a good sign for pro-life advocates. Our work is making a difference in the lives of unborn babies and moms all across the country.