Originally published by The 19th.

Voters in several states will likely have the chance to reverse their states’ abortion bans this November — but the election results could come too late for clinics that have been forced to scale back or even shut down while those bans were in effect.

A measure to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution has been approved for the November ballot in Florida, where abortion is currently outlawed after six weeks of pregnancy. Organizers in Arizona, which bans abortion after 15 weeks and where a near-total ban could briefly take effect in September, say they have enough signatures to put an abortion rights measure on the ballot.

Campaigns are also underway in Arkansas, Missouri and South Dakota — where the procedure is almost entirely outlawed — to restore abortion rights via ballot measures. (The Arkansas measure would protect abortion up until 18 weeks of pregnancy.) And advocates are pushing for an abortion rights measure in Nebraska, where the procedure is banned after 12 weeks of pregnancy.

Abortion rights measures have succeeded all seven times that they have appeared on state ballots since Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022. But this fall’s campaigns could face a particularly uphill battle, especially in Florida, where 60 percent of voters must approve a ballot measure for it to take effect.

For clinics, the challenge is staying staffed and financially afloat while facing an uncertain future. In Florida, where the six-week ban took effect May 1, health care providers anticipate clinics will be forced to shut down or reduce their services — changes that could be difficult to reverse, even if the state restores abortion rights this fall.

“We’re not naive. We know some clinics are going to close and they’re probably not going to be able to reopen,” said Nikki Madsen, co-executive director of the Abortion Care Network, which supports independent clinics across the country.

History has shown that when abortion restrictions take effect, the resulting clinic closures are likely permanent, even if the state law is ultimately reversed. Already, health centers have shut down in states where near-total bans are in effect. In Arkansas, one of the state’s two abortion clinics closed within the first 100 days of Roe’s overturn; so did a clinic in Arizona.

In 2013, well before Roe’s fall, Texas passed a law limiting abortion in the state. By the time the law was struck down, more than half the state’s clinics had closed. At Houston Reproductive Health Services, one of Texas’ last remaining abortion clinics, the state’s near-total ban has forced a drastic pivot. The clinic now provides a very........

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