A women’s health care provider, whose Austin location offered abortions, is closing its doors today.
The clinic is run by Whole Woman's Health, whose president and CEO, Amy Hagstrom Miller, blames the closure on the state’s new abortion law. The law requires clinics to upgrade to surgical centers by Sept. 1.
"It’s a decision that the state has made," Hagstrom Miller says. "It’s been a real challenge to try and fight back and do everything that we can, but in the end there’s no way that we can afford to build an ambulatory surgical center or do that kind of remodeling."
Texas has six surgical centers that offer abortions, though Planned Parenthood has announced plans to open more.
Meanwhile, Whole Woman’s Health goes to federal court in Austin on Monday to argue against the surgical center requirement as well as a provision requiring abortion doctors to get admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.
