By Dave Andrusko
On the off-chance we might underestimate how important passing state legislation is to saving multiple tens of thousands of babies, we have the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute to assure us the sky is falling: “100 Days Post-Roe: At Least 66 Clinics Across 15 US States Have Stopped Offering Abortion Care.”
Guttmacher tells us, ”October 2, 2022 marked 100 days since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a decision that has resulted in states across the nation severely restricting access to abortion.” They add, “New Guttmacher research found that 100 days after the June 24 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, 66 clinics across 15 states have been forced to stop offering abortions.”
CBS News reports that Guttmacher found that the number of abortion facilities in the 15 states dropped by 66– from 79 to 13– since Dobbs.
“All 13 of the remaining clinics are in Georgia,” CBS News reported. “The other states have no providers offering abortions, though some of their clinics are offering care other than abortions.”
Guttmacher reported that nationally, there were more than 800 abortion clinics in 2020.
What about hospitals and physician offices that provided abortion but stopped them after the Supreme Court handed down Dobbs?
Guttmacher didn’t have data for them “but [Guttmacher’s Rachel] Jones noted that clinics provide most U.S. abortions, including procedures and dispensing abortion medication.”
According to the authors–Marielle Kirstein, Joerg Dreweke, Rachel Jones, and Jesse Philbin
Our state legislative tracking predicts that a total of 26 states are certain or likely to ban abortion within a year of Roe being overturned. Already, several states—including Indiana, Ohio and South Carolina—had total or six-week abortion bans go into effect briefly before they were temporarily blocked in court. These bans could go into effect again as soon as the court cases are resolved. These disruptions to service provision—even when temporary—affect the ability of established providers to quickly resume abortion care. Further, rapidly changing laws may make it unclear to some patients whether they can legally seek an abortion in their state.
Jones told CBS News, “Much more research will need to be conducted to grasp the full extent of the chaos, confusion and harm that the U.S. Supreme Court has unleashed on people needing abortions, but the picture that is starting to emerge should alarm anyone who supports reproductive freedom and the right to bodily autonomy.”
Having read the report in detail, Dr. Randall K. O’Bannon, NRL Director of Education & Research, says “”They will tell you that many of the pregnant women in these states will just go to a clinic in a neighboring state to have their abortions. Some will. But something they aren’t anxious to admit may be way more important — with the abortion clinic closed in their home state, many women will change their minds about seeking abortion and will choose to let their babies live.”