It is important to note that not all abortion clinics are affiliated with Planned Parenthood. In fact, many are independent and affiliated with the Abortion Care Network.
Each year, the annual report reveals a grim picture. For instance, last year, I wrote that “twice as many independent abortion clinics have closed so far in 2022 compared to the year before.”
This year’s report is titled “COMMUNITIES NEED CLINICS 2023: The Abortion Care Ecosystem Depends on Independent Clinics” The Guardian, a reliably pro-abortion publication, leads with this alarmist summary:
A new report from the Abortion Care Network reveals that dozens of independently owned reproductive health clinics closed in 2023, the year after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
The group’s findings indicate that 23 independently owned clinics have closed this year, in addition to the 42 that ceased operations in 2022. This has resulted in over a dozen states, predominantly in the American South and Midwest, being without a single brick-and-mortar clinic that provides abortion services.
The Abortion Care Network report for the year includes a concise summary of the uncertain status faced by independent abortion providers. It indicates that:
- Independents (“indies”) account for 55% of all abortions performed, emphasizing the critical role they play in ensuring access to abortion care in the US.
- Access to abortion throughout pregnancy largely depends on independent clinics, as the majority of facilities providing abortions after the first trimester are independent. This breakdown of data unveils lesser-known facts, such as:
- Independents make up 61% of all US clinics offering abortions after the first trimester.
- They constitute 86% of all clinics performing abortions at or after the 22nd week.
- Additionally, 100% of all clinics offering abortions after the 26th week are independents.
In other words, independent abortion clinics have become the dominant providers of later abortions. Furthermore, the report notes that 14 states currently lack a single abortion clinic, a situation that has persisted since ACN began tracking clinic locations in 2012.
The bulk of the 28-page report is an extended lamentation, interspersed with admonitions that these clinics should be supported because they are the ones on the frontlines of the abortion debate.
These clinics provide care when and where others do not, operating in the most hostile states and compassionately providing care as pregnancy progresses. When the Abortion Care Network began tracking clinic closures in 2012, it identified 510 brick-and-mortar independent abortion clinics in the United States. As of October 2023, ACN identified 489 independent abortion clinics, just 346 of which are brick-and-mortar clinics. While there have been numerous online-only clinic openings since 2020 and a few brick-and-mortar clinic openings over the past decade, the overall number of brick-and-mortar independent clinics in the United States has decreased by 32% since 2012.
The independent abortion industry is experiencing a continued decline. This is encouraging news, particularly given that there are only 20 days remaining before Christmas.
Daniel Miller is responsible for nearly all of National Right to Life News' political writing.
With the election of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency, Daniel Miller developed a deep obsession with U.S. politics that has never let go of the political scientist. Whether it's the election of Joe Biden, the midterm elections in Congress, the abortion rights debate in the Supreme Court or the mudslinging in the primaries - Daniel Miller is happy to stay up late for you.
Daniel was born and raised in New York. After living in China, working for a news agency and another stint at a major news network, he now lives in Arizona with his two daughters.
