Study: 14 U.S. states now lack access to abortion

Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Fourteen U.S. states lack abortion services after the closing of 66 clinics since the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling to overturn Roe vs. Wade, according to an analysis released Thursday.

The report from the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit organization focused on reproductive rights, found that 66 of 79 clinics in 15 states have been forced to stop offering abortion care over laws mandating either complete bans or bans after six weeks gestation.

The other 13 clinics were all in Georgia, which bans abortions after six weeks, leaving 14 states without providers: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

The analysis counted 125,780 abortions in 2020 in those 14 states and 41,620 in Georgia.

The clinic closures leave 29% of American women of reproductive age without access to abortion care in their home states. The analysis cited anecdotal evidence indicating providers in other states are facing an overload of cases.

The analysis warns that 26 states are likely to have restrictions or abortion bans within a year. Multiple states, including South Carolina, Indiana and Ohio, have imposed total or six-week abortion bans that have blocked by courts.

On Tuesday, President Joe Biden called on voters to support candidates for Congress who would move to codify the right to abortion in federal legislation. The midterm elections are Nov. 8.