Report: Arizona leads nation in closing abortion clinics
Aug 29, 2013, 6:30 PM | Updated: 6:31 pm
PHOENIX — Arizona leads the nation when it comes to closing abortion clinics, a report said.
According to the Huffington Post, 12 abortion clinics closed in Arizona between 2010 and 2013.
Many of the clinics were closed as a result of state funds being cut.
“This has turned into a nightmare,” said Kat Sabine, executive director of NARAL’s Arizona affiliate. “The kind of efforts the women have to take to get family planning or abortion services are just incredible, and you can only get care if you can get out of the community to do it. If you’re on a reservation or rural part of the state, unless you have reliable transportation, you’re not going to get care.”
In Lake Havusu, Ariz., there are several anti-abortion Crisis Pregnancy Centers and a Catholic charity hospital that does not offer abortion care, but women have to travel over 150 miles to either Phoenix or Las Vegas to find the nearest abortion or family planning clinic, Sabine said.
Arizona now has six clinics that offer abortions.
Overall, the second-most number of clinics closed in Texas, followed by Pennsylvania, Virgina, Ohio and Arkansas, respectively.
Only Maryland and Nebraska added abortion clinics in the three-year span of the report.
