Publication Date: 
Wednesday, September 30, 2020

One way states regulate abortions is to impose legal requirements on health care facilities in which abortions are performed. These legal requirements, known as Targeted Regulation of Abortion Provider (TRAP) laws, apply specifically to abortion providers and mandate additional requirements not applied to other similarly situated health care practices. TRAP laws may address various aspects of facilities’ physical environment and operations (e.g., staffing, required practices, hospital transfer arrangements).

This legal map shows laws in effect as of August 31, 2020 requiring facilities where abortions are performed to be licensed hospitals.

This map is part of a suite of legal maps on TRAP and office-based surgery (OBS) laws created through a partnership with Bonnie Scott Jones, JD, and Sara Daniel, MPH, of Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health Care (ANSIRH), who conceptualized and designed the study. It was updated as part of the Abortion Law Project, a collaboration between the Policy Surveillance Program, Guttmacher Institute, Resources for Abortion Delivery (RAD), American Civil Liberties Union, Center for Reproductive Rights, National Abortion Federation, and Planned Parenthood Federation of America.