Abortion providers are trying to open new clinics as close as possible to states with bans
In the weeks since the Supreme Court overturned Roe and dismantled federal abortion protections, conservative states have begun enforcing bans on the procedure. Now, reproductive health providers have started leaving those states, working to open new outposts for abortion on the borders in nearby states that appear likely to maintain access.
Providers hope the new clinics can help serve the surge of patients now expected to travel for abortions. “Any idea someone would have to expand services, we’re considering,” said Dr. Kristina Tocce, the medical director of Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains.
Strategic Relocation and Regional Shifts
The pattern reflects a growing reality: About a dozen states will soon be tasked with providing the majority of the nation’s abortions, per an analysis by the Guttmacher Institute. But in those states, there aren’t enough clinics to provide care for everyone in need. Some have had plans in the works for months. Others are only now figuring out where and how to relocate, and what their new presence could look like.
Key Clinic Relocation Projects
- Whole Woman’s Health: Announced plans to close its four Texas abortion clinics and open one in neighboring New Mexico.
- CHOICES: Based in Memphis, Tennessee, is opening a clinic in Carbondale, Illinois, the closest state expected to protect abortion rights.
- Red River Women’s Clinic: North Dakota’s sole abortion clinic, is planning to relocate across the river to Minnesota.
- Jackson Women’s Health Organization: The Mississippi clinic at the center of the Supreme Court case overturning Roe v. Wade, is moving to Las Cruces, New Mexico.
- Planned Parenthood: Working to open a new clinic in Ontario, Oregon, to serve the patients expected to leave neighboring Idaho in search of abortions.
Addressing the Surge in Patient Volume
The need for these new outposts is critical as existing infrastructure is overwhelmed. Before a six-week ban took effect in Texas last fall, about 55,000 abortions were performed in-state each year. Since September 1, people who traveled out of state largely went to Oklahoma for the procedure — until that state implemented its own six-week ban in May, followed by a total abortion ban in June.
Now, both Texans and Oklahomans have limited nearby options. “There’s no way the existing providers in New Mexico can accommodate that kind of volume of need,” said Amy Hagstrom Miller, CEO of Whole Woman’s Health. Wait times for abortion appointments have increased to two to three weeks from one to two days in some regions. If these clinics do manage to open, the influx could alleviate some of the strain abortion providers in New Mexico and southern Illinois are facing.