It appears that Planned Parenthood’s planned expansion of abortion services to include five Missouri communities has not only failed to materialize, but one of their expansion facilities has now halted abortions after offering them for only about eight months.
“Planned Parenthood’s expansion plans have now become a reduction plan,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman.
Operation Rescue has confirmed a report that the Midtown Heath Center Planned Parenthood in Kansas City, Missouri, which began offering abortion drugs last September, has now halted abortions due to an inability to locate an abortionist for that facility. There is no anticipated date when abortions might resume.
The Kansas City facility only offered abortions twice per week, but abortion numbers always remained lower than expected. Many women failed to return for appointments after the 72-hour reflection period.
For example, during their first week of abortion services last September, eight out of eleven women who received informed consent for abortions failed to return, thanks to pro-life activists who offered assistance and information to Planned Parenthood’s potential abortion customers.
This leaves only two communities in Missouri that still conduct abortions. While the Reproductive Health Services Planned Parenthood facility in St. Louis facility remains busy, the Columbia facility only conducts abortions two days per month, according to local pro-life leader Kath Forck, who heads up the 40 Days for Life campaigns there.
Planned Parenthood’s plans to expand abortions into Joplin and Springfield also have failed to materialize. In April, the Planned Parenthood in Springfield was denied an abortion facility license due to failure to meet licensing requirements, although efforts to license facilities in both cities are apparently ongoing.
Thwarting expansion plans are new Missouri abortion facility regulations that require an agreement with local physicians or medical groups to provide 24-hour emergency hospital care. In addition, Missouri as blocked those who provide abortions and their affiliates from receiving state family planning funds.
Adding to Planned Parenthood’s woes is a proposed rule change announced by the Trump Administration that will soon prevent Title X funds from flowing to facilities that conduct abortion or refer for them.
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Michelle Trupiano, executive director of the Missouri Family Health told the Missourian that out of 40,000 Missourians who benefit from Title X funding, only about one third are seen by Planned Parenthood.
Dilara Yilmaz, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Great Plains, which operates the Kansas City and Columbia facilities, remained defiant.
“Our doors will stay open,” she told the Missourian. “We don’t see this impacting the provision of our health services.”
But Planned Parenthood is already feeling the impact of the new state regulations and proposed federal rules, as evidenced by the halting of abortions at the Kansas City facility.
“Every time we hear an abortion business say their doors will stay open, they are almost always the next to close or halt abortions,” said Newman. “The Missouri pro-life community has been extremely smart and effective in enacting pro-life regulations and laws that protect women and their babies. Their activists have been helping women turn away from abortions by offering them information and practical assistance. Missouri should be looked to as a model for other states to follow.”
LifeNews.com Note: Cheryl Sullenger is a leader of Operation Rescue.
