Four of the six Planned Parenthood clinics in Iowa and four in Minnesota will shut down in a year, the Midwestern affiliate operating them said, blaming a freeze in federal funds, budget cuts proposed in Congress, and state restrictions on abortion. The clinics closing in Iowa include the only Planned Parenthood center in the state that provides abortion procedures, in Ames, home to Iowa State University. Services will be shifted; the organization plans to still offer medication abortions in Des Moines and medication and medical abortion services in Iowa City, the AP reports.
Two of the clinics being shut down by Planned Parenthood North Central States are in the Minneapolis area. The others are in central Minnesota. Of the four, the Richfield clinic provides abortion procedures. The Planned Parenthood affiliate said it would lay off 66 employees and ask 37 others to move to different clinics. The organization said Friday that it plans to keep investing in telemedicine services and sees 20,000 patients a year virtually. The affiliate serves Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. "We have been fighting to hold together an unsustainable infrastructure as the landscape shifts around us and an onslaught of attacks continues," Ruth Richardson, the affiliate's president and CEO, said in a statement.
Of the remaining 15 clinics operated by Planned Parenthood North Central States, six will provide abortion procedures—five in Minnesota and one in Omaha, Nebraska. The affiliate said that in April, President Trump's administration froze $2.8 million in federal funds for Minnesota to provide birth control and other services, such as cervical cancer screenings and testing for sexually transmitted diseases. It also cited proposed cuts in Medicaid, as well as a Trump administration proposal to eliminate funding for teenage pregnancy prevention programs. After the closings, Planned Parenthood North Central States will operate 10 brick-and-mortar clinics in Minnesota, two in Iowa, two in Nebraska, and one in South Dakota. It operates none in North Dakota, though its Moorhead, Minnesota, clinic is across the Red River from Fargo.
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