A Springfield, Missouri, abortion clinic closed unexpectedly last week, leaving only two remaining clinics in the state. The clinic had been leading a fight to overturn a new Missouri law that would bar physicians from performing abortions more than 30 miles from the hospital where they had clinical privileges.
Clinic administrator Michelle Collins told the Associated Press that the lawsuit was not the cause of the clinic’s closing. Clinic administrator Michelle Turner-Collins said that the board is “saying that the environment here in Missouri is so hostile, that it’s just so difficult to continue to jump through the hoops that they keep putting forward,” according to the Springfield News-Leader.
The clinic won a temporary stay against the law last month, when US District Judge Nanette Laughery ruled that it would place an undue burden on women by effectively eliminating the only option for abortions in southwest Missouri. Now, the lawsuit will be dropped. The nearest clinic is 3 1/2 hours (160 miles) away in Columbia, Missouri.
