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After Texas, Abortion Clinic Closures Impact Ohio the Most

The number of abortion providers in Ohio has shrunk by half amid a flurry of restrictive new laws over the past four years, and the number of the procedures also is declining, according to a review of records by The Associated Press.

The number of abortion providers in Ohio has shrunk by half amid a flurry of restrictive new laws over the past four years, and the number of the procedures also is declining, according to a review of records by The Associated Press.

 

Both sides agree the added limits and hurdles placed on Ohio abortions have played a role in facility closures reaching to every corner of the nation's 7th most populous state. What is less clear is whether the downward trajectory in procedures is a cause or an effect of some of the most significantly reduced abortion access in the nation.

 

Seven of 16 Ohio abortion providers have either closed since 2011 or curtailed abortion offerings, while an eighth, in Toledo, is operating under the cloud of pending litigation, according to AP interviews and examinations of state licensing and business records.

 

The plunge places Ohio second in closures nationally, behind Texas, where 17 of 40 providers have stopped operating since 2011. The recent shuttering of two of 20 abortion providers in Virginia is widely considered the third most significant example, since one of the facilities was the state's busiest. Both states also have tightened abortion laws.

 

Caroline Cournoyer is GOVERNING's senior web editor.
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