Ann Friedman has a great piece right now in The American Prospect reporting on the significant financial challenges faced by reproductive health clinics. Turns out abortion clinics are subject to many more legal and infrastructural challenges than right-wing backed “pregnancy centers.”

Friedman visits a small, independent clinic in Nebraska that fought so many legal battles in the last seven years that the owner can’t afford upkeep on the clinic’s exterior. She also profiles the much-discussed $7.5 million Planned Parenthood facility in Aurora, IL. Construction went as planned until conservative activists realized the building would house a Planned Parenthood, at which point they pressured city officials into denying the clinic an occupancy permit. While the city attorney insists the conflict is about permit regulations, Planned Parenthood lawyers point out that “We wouldn’t be here if this was a foot care clinic.”

As in many policy areas, financial differences between the pro- and anti-choice movements are stark:

The biggest piece of this puzzle is always financial. It's tough to see a run-down abortion clinic, with high concrete walls and peeling paint, next to a sparkling new "crisis-pregnancy center." But the bottom line is that it's really, really expensive to provide actual medical care. And it's cheap to run an office-slash-misinformation center. Roll one ultrasound machine in, buy some beige furniture and, bam, you're done. Lots of money left over to spend on the landscaping.

Read the whole article here.