Abortion providers in the United States are subject to strict evidence-based regulations (such as state licensing requirements, federal workplace safety requirements, association requirements and medical ethics) to ensure patient safety. However, nearly half of states, 15 of which do not have a total abortion ban in place, have imposed additional regulations on abortion clinics. Most of these laws—referred to as targeted regulation of abortion providers, or TRAP laws—go beyond what is necessary to ensure patient safety. They vary widely in severity, though some are intended to be so burdensome that they shutter clinics that provide abortion care.

The table below focuses on two of the most burdensome types of TRAP laws:

• Facility structural requirements. In many states, TRAP laws apply the facility requirements for ambulatory surgical centers to abortion clinics. These structural standards—such as specifications for procedure room size and corridor width—are not medically necessary for the safety of abortion care.
• Arrangements with local hospitals. These types of arrangements include admitting privileges that allow a provider to admit and treat patients at a hospital and transfer agreements that allow an abortion facility to transfer patients to a hospital in the event of complications. Such arrangements may be difficult to establish or maintain: For instance, admitting privileges often require a provider to admit a minimum number of patients per year—a standard that abortion providers typically cannot reach because abortion complications requiring hospitalization are rare. In addition, some states specify that clinics be within a stated distance from the hospital with which they have an agreement, a standard that may be particularly hard for rural clinics to meet. Like facility structural requirements, arrangements with hospitals are medically unnecessary.