Texas abortion clinics poised to close

It’s been two years since Texas passed a hotly contested law placing new requirements on abortion clinics and doctors. But after being temporarily blocked by courts, it is finally set to go into effect July 1. Of about 20 clinics remaining in the state, more than half will be shuttered, opponents of the law say.

That’s unless the Supreme Court steps in to halt the law, which says abortion clinics must meet the standards of ambulatory surgical centers and doctors must have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.

Clinics have issued an emergency appeal to the justices, who could grant or deny the request, or do nothing at all. Abortion rights advocates plan to appeal to the court this fall to grant the law a full hearing — a move that is thought likely as many states have passed similar laws.

Besides Texas, surgical center requirements are in effect in 22 states and four states require admitting privileges. While the Texas law was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, such measures have been blocked by other appeals courts.

A few years ago, Texas had 41 abortion clinics. The number is now down to 19, partly because of the threat of the new law and partly for other reasons, such as abortion doctors retiring. At least 10 clinics are about to close, potentially leaving nine remaining, according to a list from the Center for Reproductive Rights.

Of the clinics planning to shutter, four are in Houston and two are in San Antonio. The other four clinics are in Austin, El Paso, Dallas and Fort Worth. It’s not clear whether an eleventh clinic — Whole Women’s Health of McAllen — will remain open or not, even though the Fifth Circuit exempted it from most of the new regulations.

None of those facilities qualifies as an ambulatory surgical center, which must meet certain hospital-grade standards, but it’s not clear how many of the doctors have hospital privileges.

The clinics dislike both requirements, arguing that they are no more than an attempt by abortion opponents to end the procedure throughout the state. But it’s the surgical center requirements that are hardest to meet, according to abortion rights advocates, who say the upgrades would be too expensive.

“I would say the admitting privileges is probably secondary, but to be clear they’re both unnecessary and burdensome,” said Amanda Williams of the Lilith Fund, a group that helps women pay for abortions.

Some clinics have had difficulties with their doctors being unable to gain admitting privileges at hospitals. Abortion rights advocates have blamed that on lack of proximity to a non-Catholic hospital.

But Kyleen Wright, president of Texans for Life Coalition, says that by her count, two-thirds of abortion doctors had hospital admitting privileges when the Texas law was passed. She also says each of the clinics is within 30 miles of a non-religious hospital, which presumably wouldn’t have religious objections to granting their doctors privileges.

There are also disputes over whether the clinic closures unfairly burden women seeking an abortion. If the El Paso clinic shutters, there won’t be any abortion clinics left in the western half of Texas. But there is a clinic just across the border from El Paso, in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, and another one being built there.

Planned Parenthood opened a new clinic in San Antonio in the fall, although President Cecile Richards said this week her group has no plans to establish any other new clinics in the state.

Regardless of exactly why each clinic is preparing to close, or exactly how many would be left, the Texas law represents a big win for Wright and other abortion opponents. The law has resulted in a wave of clinic closures that opponents have not been able to achieve in decades of activism. Yet many still insist the clinic closures are just a positive byproduct of laws protecting women.

“While of course we’re not sorry about abortion clinics closing, that was not the goal here with this legislation,” Wright said.