In the name of “ensur[ing] sustainability for the future,” Planned Parenthood of Illinois has announced that it will be closing four of its facilities in the state. The Planned Parenthood centers in Bloomington, Englewood (Chicago), Decatur, and Ottawa will stop seeing patients in March 2025.
The other 13 Planned Parenthood centers in the state are expected to remain open. A press release from Planned Parenthood states, “PPIL is planning on expanding appointment availability and access at the Champaign, Peoria, Springfield, and Roseland health centers as well as expanding virtual options via telehealth appointments and the PPDirect app to minimize patient disruption.”
Just this month, Planned Parenthood of Illinois’ CEO Jennifer Welch resigned after nearly a decade leading the organization. Shortly after Welch’s resignation, abortionist Colleen McNicholas, medical director of the mega-center in Fairview Heights, Illinois (who also previously led the St. Louis Planned Parenthood, considered one of the most dangerous abortion centers in the U.S.) resigned from her position as well.
A new CEO has been installed at Planned Parenthood Great Rivers, an affiliate which oversees all Missouri facilities including Rolla, Springfield, and St. Louis, as well as the mega-facility in Fairview Heights, Illinois (which advertises abortion up to 26 weeks).
According to Planned Parenthood’s press release, a “47% increase in overall abortion care patients and an unprecedented number of out-of-state patients” amazingly just isn’t enough to sustain its business, despite the fact that PP of Illinois’ most recent annual report claims that “In FY23, Illinois saw more out-of-state abortion patients than any other state in the country.” The affiliate ended fiscal year 2023 with more than $10 million in excess revenue.
“That increase in patient volume, coupled with low reimbursement rates from insurers and rising costs of providing care has resulted in PPIL needing to realign its health centers and staffing,” the release notes. In addition, “PPIL is also downsizing its administrative staff proportionally to match the changes in the health centers,” and “The decision to close health centers and downsize staff is difficult but necessary to operate a sustainable organization that can continue to provide our community with essential health care and education.”
The release also notes that if needed due to “patient demand,” the facilities in Champaign, Peoria, Springfield, Roseland, and Waukegan “will expand.”
READ: Planned Parenthood of Illinois and online abortion pill biz team up to kill more preborn babies
But essentially, it sounds as if Planned Parenthood of Illinois intends to do much less of its business with clients in person:
To meet patient needs through digital means, beginning in February 2025, PPIL is offering medication abortion through the PPDirect app. Currently, PPIL provides birth control, UTI treatment, at-home STI testing and emergency contraception through PPDirect.
And of course, the plan is to make the abortion pill available through the app, too:
Adding medication abortion to the suite of services expands access, reduces wait times at health centers and provides the right care patients need wherever they are.
The press release states that to get the abortion pill, a PPDirect patient will “fill out a questionnaire that is reviewed by a PPIL medical professional” (note that it does not say “physician”) and then “PPIL either mails” the pills “or works with them to schedule an appointment at a health center.” It also claims, “Patients can receive follow up care at a PPIL health center if needed and they can make an appointment through the PPDirect app.”
However, given the fact that four PPIL centers are being closed, if a woman experiences abortion pill complications, it is likely that an urgent care or emergency room will be closer — and as Live Action News has previously reported, “published percentages for emergency room (ER) visits on the drug’s insert indicate that 2.9 to 4.6 percent of women who take abortion drugs end up in the emergency room, indicating that abortion pill ER visits could be in the tens of thousands every year.”
Tell President Trump, RFK, Jr., Elon, and Vivek:
Stop killing America’s future. Defund Planned Parenthood NOW!
