by JivinJ, host of the blog, JivinJehoshaphat

  • It’s funny how Reuters decided to investigate the absurd claim which was repeated non-stop that only 5 clinics in Texas would stay open after pro-life legislation passed. Why they didn’t investigate these claims while the legislation was being debated and making national news is anyone’s guess:

    Twenty-six states have laws that require abortion clinics to meet varying levels of hospital standards, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights. Pennsylvania, Virginia and Missouri passed strict health and safety rules similar to Texas, it said.In those three states, however, most clinics were able to stay open after the laws passed, some by reallocating dollars to comply with building upgrades, according to abortion providers and state health department officials interviewed by Reuters….

    Elizabeth Nash, state issues manager for the Guttmacher Institute, which favors abortion rights but does research cited by both sides, said the new law will have an impact in Texas but maybe less than the worst fears.

    “Clinics will close,” she said. “But I can’t say we are going to go down to six.”

    Only one clinic has closed in Virginia since a new law was implemented there earlier this year, the state health department said. No clinics have closed in Missouri because of a tough law passed there in 2007, abortion provider Planned Parenthood of Kansas and mid-Missouri said.