In an annual survey tracking abortion clinic closures, pro-life organization Operation Rescue reports that 73 abortion facilities partially or completely shut down in the U.S. in 2014, with Texas leading the way.
The data confirm that in the U.S. “the abortion clinic closure trend continued strongly in 2014,” states Operation Rescue. “While the abortion clinic closures did not eclipse the high water mark of 93 total closures in 2013, the 73 closures this year far exceeds the two dozen closures recorded in 2012.”
According to the report, 739 abortion facilities currently remain open in the country. Of these, 551 are surgical abortion centers and 188 are medication-only abortion facilities. Additionally, of the 60 surgical abortion clinics that shut down this year, 47 were permanent — a finding that represents a 23 percent decrease in surgical abortion centers over the past five years.
Court action allowed 13 surgical abortion clinics to reopen after abortion safety laws found them to be substandard facilities for women.
“We are continuing to witness the implosion of the abortion cartel in America,” said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue. “The only things that are preventing total collapse are court injunctions that are blocking several state abortion safety laws from being enforced. Once those laws clear the courts, we expect to see even more dangerous abortion facilities close.”
The pro-life group states abortion centers continue to close primarily due to new state laws, increased reporting of abortionists who are incompetent or engaging in criminal activity, financial problems of abortion facilities due to less demand for abortions, and abortionists’ retirement with no replacements.
“As new states laws add safety standards for surgical abortions, we are seeing the beginnings of a new trend,” Newman added.
“Abortion providers who cannot or will not comply with the higher standards have, in some cases, dropped surgical abortions in favor of medical abortions so they did not have to become licensed,” he said. “This allows incompetent abortionists to continue exploiting women for money while evading the need to increase patient safety.”
Operation Rescue reports that, in 1991, 2,176 surgical abortion centers in the U.S. were in operation. Since then, however, 75 percent of these facilities have shut down. Lists of all open abortion facilities in the nation and information about their known abuses, as well as of abortion facilities that have shut down can be found at AbortionDocs.org.
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