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Above is Rewire’s interactive map of what happened to most of the abortion clinics in Texas since the 2013 passage of HB2, parts of which were struck down today by the Supreme Court. The 5-3 ruling this morning overturned a section of the law that would have required prohibitively expensive remodeling of many clinic buildings, as well as a section requiring that abortion providers make arrangements that let them personally admit patients to nearby hospitals.
The latter requirement alone, when it went into effect in November 2013, caused more than half of the state’s 41 abortion providers to stop offering the procedure (including 4 out of 10 inside the Grand Pkwy. at the time). The University of Texas says that the full law, had it gone into effect, would have left Houston with 2 providers (compared to 33 in New York City, 10 in Los Angeles, and 13 in Chicago). Those 2 — the geometrically questionable Planned Parenthood HQ near University of Houston’s main campus, and the Texas Ambulatory Surgical Center in the Heights — show up on the map in green when the Ambulatory Surgical Center layer is activated:
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A click on any marker on the map shows whether and when each clinic closed (some stayed open and continued to offer services other than abortion). If the clinics that closed due to the law’s passage are in the mood to reopen, they can now technically do so — though it’s unlikely that many of those facilities will reopen quickly, as some have been shut for years. Amy Hagstrom Miller, CEO of Whole Women’s Health and a lead plaintiff for the Supreme Court case, tells Emily Crockett that reopening after closure may cost some facilities hundreds of thousands of dollars.
- Supreme Court Strikes Down Texas Abortion Restrictions [New York Times]
- Density of Abortion Facilities in the Four Largest US Cities [University of Texas]
- Map: Texas After HB2 [Rewire]
- Previously on Swamplot: Yet Another Protest of Houston’s New Planned Parenthood Headquarters; Abortion and Real Estate Protests
Map of former and current abortion Texas providers: Rewire
Good for SCOTUS, keeps the hillbilly lawmakers in check. Laws like HB2 and Religious Freedom laws which are clearly based on religiosity of lawmakers that pushed them are the reason states rights are curtailed by federal laws. Can’t trust them with nice things.
150 years from now, our society will look back on abortion like we look back on slavery today. Just because SCOTUS rules in favor (Dred Scott; Plessy v Ferguson) doesn’t make it right.
@hooligan, perhaps, but not likely. The key argument in the whole debate is when life begins, medical science determined it’s when certain brain activity begins which is months after conception. The opinion that life begins at conception is purely religious in nature. Since the religiosity of US population is already plunging like a rock, in 150 years we may be like Nordic countries with over 90% non-religious. Hence it is more likely abortion will stay and in fact may become a non-issue.
Wait, so you’re telling me Texas lawmakers once again wasted $MM of taxpayers money on passing laws they knew would never pass a constitutional judgement.
.
Sure know how to pick out the smart ones around here, don’t we. go Texas, burn that money baby.