Pro-Lifers Celebrate Closing of Missouri Abortion Clinic in Springfield.

Missouri pro-lifers celebrated as the Springfield Healthcare Center abortion clinic shut its doors October 20, closing the only abortion mill in the southwest corner of the state. The closure also ended the clinic's federal lawsuit against a new state law requiring abortionists to have privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of a clinic, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

"We rejoice in the lives that will be saved because the clinic is closing," said Missouri Right to Life lobbyist Susan Klein.

Since the lawsuit has been dropped, the provision regulating abortionists' hospital privileges will now go into effect.

The Springfield clinic opened soon after the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Under several different names (Ladies Center, Women's Healthcare Center of Springfield, Springfield Healthcare Center), about 1,500 unborn babies lost their lives there each year, it is believed.

Administrator Michelle Collins told the AP that the clinic's board voted to shut down for business reasons that had nothing to do with the lawsuit, refusing to specify what those reasons were. "It's just so difficult to provide abortions for patients here when there's zero support from the medical community," she said. Local doctors and hospitals have refused to participate in abortions.

Collins added that the federal lawsuit would be dropped since the clinic is no longer open. In the lawsuit, Springfield Healthcare Center claimed that requiring doctors to have nearby hospital privileges would ...