As Planned Parenthood grapples with financial problems on the East Coast, the abortion giant claims it plans to close four facilities in upstate New York. Earlier this month, Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (with facilities in Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire) and Planned Parenthood of Greater New York (PPGNY) both said they were facing serious financial problems, with PPGNY saying it would stop committing late abortions at its Manhattan location because it could no longer afford to pay for the sedation clients needed for the procedure.
In a more recent press release, PPGNY also said it would close four facilities — in Goshen, Amsterdam, Cobleskill, and Staten Island.
“PPGNY has made the difficult but necessary decision to consolidate resources and shift services from Staten Island, Amsterdam, Goshen, and Cobleskill to larger, full-service, and centrally located PPGNY health centers,” the press release said. “By closing smaller or part-time sites, PPGNY can maximize resources to best deliver patient care throughout New York. Patients can continue their health care journey at their nearest Planned Parenthood or via telehealth through PPGNY’s virtual health center….. Site closures are scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2024, pending approval by the New York State Department of Health” (emphasis added).
Notably, Planned Parenthood has begun to shift its focus largely to the abortion pill instead of surgical abortions; this means fewer brick-and-mortar facilities are necessary (and less overhead cost), since the abortion pill regimen can be dispensed via telehealth, as mentioned in the press release. The corporation’s president, Alexis McGill Johnson, announced this spring that 70% of its abortion clients are now choosing to do abortion by pill. According to a local news source, Planned Parenthood of Northern New England — one of the affiliates allegedly having financial problems — also “says about 70% of their patients choose medication abortion.” This is seven percent higher than the national average of 63%.
READ: Planned Parenthood’s egregious record should result in federal defunding. Here’s why.
In recent years, Planned Parenthood also began closing smaller facilities to make way for more profitable mega-centers, with giant facilities referred to as the Walmart of the abortion industry. These giant facilities are known to put smaller, independent abortion facilities out of business, and it’s therefore not entirely surprising that after facing problems with money, the abortion chain would look to close their smaller facilities to focus on their larger ones. This wasn’t because the corporation was losing money; it was a way for them to increase their profitability.
Is the same thing happening now, under the guise of financial hardship?
Questions have also been raised about why Planned Parenthood is having financial difficulties in New York, of all places, where the government has repeatedly given tens of millions of dollars to the abortion industry, and where there is an insurance mandate, requiring all plans to pay for abortions.
“Recently, Governor Hochul unilaterally allocated an astounding $35 million to subsidize abortion clinics throughout the stat,” Kristen Curran, director of government relations for the New York State Catholic Conference, said in a previous statement. “If Planned Parenthood is now saying it’s too expensive to provide safe care to women in its clinics, we must ask, where exactly are these tens of millions of dollars going?”
