Could Kansas Become the First Abortionless State?

New regulations might force Kansas's last three abortion clinics to shut their doors, effectively making it the first state without any abortion options for women. New legislation requires clinics to meet strident new facility standards or risk being closed by the state. The final draft of these regulations was released June 17, and centers have only until July 1 to make the changes -- which, as Mother Jones reports, is quite short notice:

The department wasted no time in drafting the new rules, issuing the final version on June 17 and informing clinics that they would have to comply with the rules by July 1, as the Associated Press reported Wednesday. Peter Brownlie, president of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, told the AP that inspectors were expected at their clinic in Overland Park, Kansas, on Wednesday. There are only three clinics left in the state: Planned Parenthood's, a clinic in Overland Park, and the Aid for Women clinic in Kansas City.

The new requirements require facilities to add extra bathrooms, drastically expand waiting and recovery areas, and even add larger janitor's closets, as one clinic employee told me--changes that clinics will have a heck of a time pulling off by the deadline. Under the new rule, clinics must also aquire state certification to admit patients, a process that takes 90 to 120 days, the staffer explained. Which makes it impossible for clinics to comply. And clinics that don't comply with the rules will face fines or possible closure.

Read the full story at Mother Jones.