Skip to main content
Friday, October 30, 2026Oct 30
Subscribe
All Sections
Search
More

This story is free to read.

Texas may not restore lost abortion clinics despite ruling

Lucy Ceballos, center, and Isabella Soto, left, members of the National Institute for Reproductive Health, celebrate the U.S. Supreme Court ruling against Texas' abortion restrictions in front of Whole Woman's Health Monday, June 27, 2016, in McAllen, Texas. Whole Woman's Health is a abortion provider that stayed open despite the restrictions as many other providers closed over the past two years. (Nathan Lambrecht/The Monitor via AP)
Lucy Ceballos, center, and Isabella Soto, left, members of the National Institute for Reproductive Health, celebrate the U.S. Supreme Court ruling against Texas' abortion restrictions in front of Whole Woman's Health Monday, June 27, 2016, in McAllen, Texas. Whole Woman's Health is a abortion provider that stayed open despite the restrictions as many other providers closed over the past two years. (Nathan Lambrecht/The Monitor via AP) Lucy Ceballos, center, and Isabella Soto, left, members of the National Institute for Reproductive Health, celebrate the U.S. Supreme Court ruling against Texas' abortion restrictions in front of Whole Woman's Health Monday, June 27, 2016, in McAllen, Texas. Whole Woman's Health is a abortion provider that stayed open despite the restrictions as many other providers closed over the past two years. (Nathan Lambrecht/The Monitor via AP)

By Associated Press 1 min read

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Long wait times for abortions and lengthy drives to abortion clinics are likely to continue in Texas for months and maybe years despite the U.S. Supreme Court striking down restrictions that drastically reduced the number of providers statewide.

Texas lost more than half of its 41 abortion clinics in the three years since former Republican Gov. Rick Perry signed a sweeping anti-abortion law that justices largely dismantled in a 5-3 ruling Monday.

The decision amounted to the Supreme Court’s strongest defense of abortion rights in a generation.

The Texas laws required doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals and forced clinics to meet hospital-like standards. But even with those mandates now gone, Planned Parenthood and others providers aren’t yet making promises about opening new facilities.