Abortion Law Pushes Texas Clinics to Close Doors
By MANNY FERNANDEZ, NYT, MARCH 6, 2014
McALLEN, Tex. — Shortly before a candlelight vigil on the sidewalk outside, employees of the last abortion clinic in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas shut the doors early Thursday evening, making legal abortion unavailable in the poorest part of the state in the wake of tough new restrictions passed last year by the Texas Legislature.
The closings on Thursday of two clinics operated by Whole Woman’s Health — the one here in McAllen and another in the East Texas city of Beaumont — are part of a wave of clinic closings brought on by the new law.
There were 44 facilities that performed abortions in Texas in 2011, abortion providers said. After the two closings on Thursday, there are now 24, they said. When the law is fully implemented in September, that number is expected to drop to six.
“It’s heartbreaking for us,” said Amy Hagstrom Miller, the chief executive of Whole Woman’s Health, which has challenged provisions of the law in court. “It’s been a very difficult decision. I tried everything I can. I just can’t keep the doors open.”
(More here.)
McALLEN, Tex. — Shortly before a candlelight vigil on the sidewalk outside, employees of the last abortion clinic in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas shut the doors early Thursday evening, making legal abortion unavailable in the poorest part of the state in the wake of tough new restrictions passed last year by the Texas Legislature.
The closings on Thursday of two clinics operated by Whole Woman’s Health — the one here in McAllen and another in the East Texas city of Beaumont — are part of a wave of clinic closings brought on by the new law.
There were 44 facilities that performed abortions in Texas in 2011, abortion providers said. After the two closings on Thursday, there are now 24, they said. When the law is fully implemented in September, that number is expected to drop to six.
“It’s heartbreaking for us,” said Amy Hagstrom Miller, the chief executive of Whole Woman’s Health, which has challenged provisions of the law in court. “It’s been a very difficult decision. I tried everything I can. I just can’t keep the doors open.”
(More here.)
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