The State Laws Restricting Abortion Care in Public Facilities
Eleven states ban most abortions in certain public facilities.
Eleven states ban most abortions in certain public facilities.
| State | Summary | Year |
| Arizona | Outside the Medicaid program, state money cannot be used for abortion except to save the patient’s life; no state money or tuition from public university students can go to abortion training. | 1980 |
| Arizona | Clinics that are part of public health service districts constructed with state funds for medically underserved areas may not provide any service intended to cause abortion. They also may not contract out to provide abortion services. | 1977 |
| Arizona | Public university facilities may not perform abortion except to save the patient’s life. | 1981 |
| Kansas | Facilities that are owned, leased, or run by the University of Kansas Hospital Authority can only perform abortions to protect the patient’s life or there is “serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function.” A physician who is faculty may provide abortions at non-Authority facilities and “outside the scope of” his or her employment with the Authority. | 1998, 2013, 2014 |
| Kentucky | Publicly owned hospitals and health-care facilities cannot provide abortions except when necessary to protect the patient’s life. | 1974 and 1980 |
| Louisiana | Prohibits the use of public funds or facilities for abortion services, through either public or private agencies, except when necessary to protect the patient’s life or in cases of rape or incest. | 1978 and 1994 |
| Mississippi | Prohibits the use of public funds or facilities for abortion services, through either public or private agencies, except when necessary to protect the patient’s life or in cases of rape, incest, or lethal fetal anomaly. | 2002 |
| Missouri | Public employees may not participate in or refer for abortion except when necessary to protect a patient’s life. | 1986 |
| Missouri | Public facilities may not be used to provide or refer for abortion except when necessary to protect a patient’s life. | 1986 |
| North Dakota | Abortion may not be provided in a hospital that is owned, maintained, or run by a state agency or any political subdivision, except when necessary to protect the patient’s life. | 1979 |
| Ohio | Public facilities may not be used to provide abortion except to protect the patient’s life or in cases of rape or incest that has been reported to a law enforcement agency. Public facilities include any facility or asset owned, leased, or controlled by the state or any political subdivisions and include facilities at state universities and medical colleges, health districts, joint hospitals, and public hospital agencies. | 2011 |
| Oklahoma | State employees cannot participate in abortion services (as part of the scope of their employment) except to protect the patient’s life, or in cases of “forcible” rape or incest reported to law enforcement. Publicly controlled facilities, equipment, and assets are also barred from being used for abortion services with the same exceptions. | 2007 |
| Pennsylvania | Facilities owned or operated by the state, county, or local governments may not be used to provide abortions except to protect the woman’s life or in cases of rape or incest that have been reported to authorities. State, county, and local governments are also barred from entering into contracts with a physician or health care facility for the provision of an abortion (beyond life, rape, and incest). | 1982, 1988, 1989 |
| Texas | Prohibits the use of tax revenue for abortion in facilities that are part of a “hospital district” that receives state funds except to protect the patient’s life, “avoid a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function,” or lethal fetal anomaly. | 2011 |
The Guttmacher Institute provided this analysis.