Abortion providers are disappearing at an accelerating pace, in "blue" states as well as "red" states, according to a report published by FiveThirtyEight.
Since 2011, at least 162 abortion providers have closed their doors or stopped offering the procedure, while just 21 new abortion clinics opened, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.
Efforts by Republicans to tighten regulation surrounding abortion clinics and cut off their Medicaid funding has propelled the closures.
Texas has lost at least 30 since 2011, while Iowa and Michigan have lost 14 and 13, respectively. But abortion clinics in "blue" states are closing, too. Twelve clinics have closed in California since 2011, along with three in Washington and a number in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, according to the Bloomberg data.
Nikki Madsen, executive director of the Abortion Care Network, a national association for independent abortion care providers, said for every three independent abortion clinics in her network that close in more conservative states, about two have closed in more liberal states over the past five years, according to the report. She defined more liberal states as those that offer Medicaid funding for abortion.
The closures are attributed to various factors, such as economic difficulties of operating a clinic and declining demand.