Abortion clinics may shutter tomorrow in Kansas

Post has been updated at bottom.

Kansas may soon become the only state in the union where women cannot access a legal abortion provider.

The state recently denied a license to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Overland Park after the state legislature passed a new rule changing the standards for clinics, the liberal magazine Mother Jones reports. Representatives from a second abortion provider in the state, Aid for Women, told a local station that it did not meet the new standards either, while the last remaining provider did not receive an inspection and will thus not have the new license. The three clinics are all suing over the law in federal court.

"The obvious origins of these regulations are certainly non-medical, as shown by the equipment and drugs that we're required to have on hand that are outmoded, inefficient, and beneath the standard of care," Dr. Herbert Hodes of the Center for Women's Health clinic told the NPR affiliate in Kansas City, KCUR. Among other things, the law says abortion providers must have pediatric resuscitation devices on hand. Supporters of the bill say the regulations protect women from sloppy care.

UPDATE: Mother Jones reports that the Planned Parenthood clinic in Overland Park has been granted a license by the health department and will remain open.