Thirteen Texas abortion clinics serving large parts of the state could close their doors this week following a decision by a federal appellate court Thursday allowing a state law to take effect requiring the clinics to implement costly hospital-level upgrades to their facilities.
Abortion facilities would be forced to spend millions on upgrades to comply with the law. Before the law was passed last year, there were more than 40 clinics offering abortion services. Now only eight meet the new requirements. Those are concentrated around Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Dallas and Fort Worth, leaving large swaths of the state unserved by abortion providers.
A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said there was insufficient evidence that a “large fraction” of women seeking abortions would face an unconstitutional burden because of the new facilities' requirements and clinic closings.