Republican-controlled state legislatures are passing restrictive laws forcing abortion clinics to shut down faster than ever. The release of undercover videos by the Center for Medical Progress over the past year, which exposed Planned Parenthood’s selling of fetal body parts, has provided additional momentum for the legislation. Bloomberg reports, “Since 2011, at least 162 abortion providers have shut or stopped offering the procedure, while just 21 opened.”

The reductions are taking place in 35 states. Texas lost the most, at least 30, followed by Iowa and Michigan. Five states, including Missouri, now only have one clinic.

The number of abortion clinics was at its highest in the late 1980s, when there were 705, according to the reproductive-health research organization Guttmacher Institute. That number fell to 553 in 2011 and has been dropping at a faster rate since then.

Much of the success getting clinics shut down in Texas is due to abortion opponents changing tactics: focusing on legislation instead of protesting outside clinics. “State regulations that make it too expensive or logistically impossible for facilities to remain in business drove more than a quarter of the closings,” Bloomberg reports. “Industry consolidation, changing demographics and declining demand were also behind the drop, along with doctor retirements and crackdowns on unfit providers.”

Pro-life advocates are hoping that as the seedy side of the abortion business continues to be exposed, and people become more knowledgeable about fetal development, this trend will continue.

Read the article at Bloomberg.