Number of 'independent abortion clinics' continues to drop

(NRL News) Yesterday I wrote a story about Guttmacher headlined “Insights into the pro-abortion mind: Guttmacher’s “State Policy Trends 2025 Full-Year Analysis” and, as promised, I am analyzing the annual “Communities Need Clinics” report of the Abortion Care Network today.

We’re told, “Abortion Care Network is dedicated to the unique needs of these providers [“indies”] and the people they serve.” [They are “indies” because their clinics are not part of Planned Parenthood or hospitals.]

The report is “highlighting the role of independent abortion clinics in the U.S.”

I’ve written about them for the last few years for many reasons. Their calling card is three-fold.

First, the report highlights that independent clinics provide 58% of all abortions; 85% of all abortions “at or after 22 weeks”; and “100% of all abortion after 26 weeks of pregnancy.”

To repeat, “indies” do almost all abortions at or after 22 weeks and every abortion after 26 weeks!

Second, they tell us (repeatedly)

• Entire regions depend on indies for abortion care: the majority of abortion clinics in politically hostile states are independent.

Third, they brag that they provide “more comprehensive abortion care” than Planned Parenthood.

Meaning what?

Independent abortion clinics are more likely to provide both medication and in-clinic abortion care as options. Seventy-two percent of brick-and-mortar independent clinics offer both medication and in-clinic abortion care, as compared to Planned Parenthood, where both medication and in-clinic abortion care are available at only 43 percent of affiliated clinics.

Having said that, the report underlines how many independent abortion clinics have closed in the past ten years, which they lament and we celebrate:

Over the last decade, abortion clinics have been closing steadily, with chronically under-resourced independent clinics more vulnerable to closure. When Abortion Care Network started tracking clinic closures in 2012, we identified 510 independent abortion clinics open in the U.S. As of October 2025, ACN identified 396 brick-and-mortar independent abortion clinics, as well as 244 online-only clinics.** While many online only clinics and a handful of brick-and-mortar clinics have opened over the years, the overall number of brick-and-mortar independent clinics in the U.S. has decreased by 22 percent since 2012.

Abortion Care Network identified 100 independent abortion clinic closures†† between 2022 and 2025. Forty-two independent clinics closed in 2022, 23 independent clinics closed in 2023, and 12 independent clinics closed in 2024. As of October 2025, there have been 23 confirmed independent clinic closures in 2025.

That section ends:

Once a clinic closes, it’s very unlikely to reopen, leaving lasting gaps in abortion access.

A large part of the closures is explained by the abortion business shifting from brick-and-mortar clinics to online and virtual sellers of the abortion pill, mifepristone. Tragically, that has not cut into Planned Parenthood’s business, in fact the number of babies killed there continues to increase, in spite several clinic closures of their own.

In its 2021-2022 annual report, PPFA reported 374,155 abortions.

But in its 2022–2023 annual report, titled “Above & Beyond,” PPFA reported 392,715 abortions—18,560 more babies lost, or a 5% increase to an all-time high.

Carole Novielli summed the slaughter up:

Planned Parenthood killed an average of 1,076 preborn babies every day, nearly 45 every hour, and one every 80 seconds in 2022-23.