Washington, United States
Since the Supreme Court restored the national right to the procedure, at least 43 facilities around the country have ceased performing abortions, according to research released on Thursday. According to the Guttmacher Institute, a research organisation that promotes access to abortion, 11 states have outlawed abortions either after six weeks of pregnancy or completely in the month after the landmark June 24 verdict. The institute has determined that 43 clinics, including 23 in Texas alone, 5 in Oklahoma, and 5 in Alabama, have shut down or redirected their resources to other types of care.
The Pink House, also known as the Jackson Women's Health Organization, which was at the centre of the Supreme Court case, shuttered on July 7 after serving as Mississippi's sole abortion facility for a considerable amount of time. "The already dire state of abortion access in many parts of the country will continue to deteriorate and more states will adopt abortion bans in the coming weeks and months," the study authors wrote, as reported by AFP.
Also Read: Russia committed 'petrifying war crime' by attacking POW jail, tweets Ukraine FM
Abortion is prohibited by law in certain places, including Louisiana and North Dakota, although the implementation of these new regulations has been hampered by court disputes. Others, like Indiana, have asked for extra state legislative sessions in order to adopt fresh legislation. It is anticipated that abortion would eventually be prohibited in half of US states, notably in the South and Midwest, which are mainly conservative.
(with inputs from agencies)