HARLINGEN, Texas (AP) — At an abortion clinic in Harlingen, Texas, women who were waiting to see the doctor today have been told that they wouldn't be able to end their pregnancies there.
About a third of the clinics in Texas are now barred from performing abortions, after a federal appeals court allowed most of the state's new abortion restrictions to take effect while a legal challenge continues.
Texas is now the fourth state -- and the largest -- to enforce a provision requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges in a nearby hospital.
In some parts of Texas, that puts hundreds of miles between many women and abortion providers.
In Texas, abortions are a two-day process. Women arrive on the first day for an initial consultation with the doctor, and can have the abortion the next day.
Even though they were told that they wouldn't be able to have abortions tomorrow, some women at the clinic in Harlingen decided to stay and see the doctor today, on the slim hope that something would change.
