Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, the Iowa-based abortion business that operates abortion centers in Iowa, has announced it is merging with Planned Parenthood affiliates in eastern Oklahoma and Arkansas to put together a massive Midwest abortion business.
Planned Parenthood of the Heartland is taking over Planned Parenthood of Arkansas and Eastern Oklahoma and has signed a management contract with intent to merge into one affiliate by January 2012.
“We are excited to join PP Heartland in a new, multi-state affiliate that will be stronger and more efficient,” said PPAEO Board Chair Kathy Sparks. “We are transforming operations to ensure we are here for the women and men who need and want our services.”
Jill June, the President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, will be the interim president of the new abortion business, which will be headquartered in Des Moines. After the merger is complete, Planned Parenthood of the Heartland will have approximately 30 centers located throughout Nebraska, Iowa, Arkansas and Eastern Oklahoma.
That is a concern for Steve Brody, the head of Dubuque County Right to Life, who worries the move will expand the current telemed abortion practice, which has Planned Parenthood of the Heartland denying women an in-person visit with a physician before getting the dangerous abortion drug that has killed dozens of women and injured at least 1,100 more.
“Planned Parenthood of the Heartland is positioning themselves to be the monster affiliate in the Midwest,” he told LifeNews. “Earlier this year, they swallowed up Planned Parenthood of East Central Iowa, and will consume Planned Parenthood of Southeast Iowa at the end of this week. Now comes word that Planned Parenthood of Arkansas and Eastern Oklahoma is next.”
“It would be interesting to know the true story behind all of these mergers, and learn if these are all underperforming according to Planned Parenthood’s standards,” Brody added. “It could also be due to the mandate of having all affiliates offer abortion services. It is even more troubling to know that telemed or webcam abortions are now poised to be exported out of the State of Iowa, putting even more vulnerable women at risk.”
He said the merger makes it so the state legislatures of Oklahoma and Arkansas should consider passing a bill similar to the one Nebraska approved banning webcam abortions.
The webcam, or telemed abortion, process has women going to Planned Parenthood for an RU 486 drug-induced abortion getting the drug from a nurse or other employee. The patient is denied an in-person consultation with a licensed physician the FDA suggests and she instead visits with the abortion practitioner via a webcam hookup.
The Planned Parenthood abortion business is beginning to use this process in Iowa and is thought to be considering expanding it to more rural and remote areas of other states because of the expense and difficulty in recruiting abortion practitioners and getting them to all of the Planned Parenthood centers in a certain state.
Planned Parenthood of the Heartland’s recent announcement that they intend to expand with sites to mid-sized cities is concerning to Nebraska Right to Life and the abortion business is looking at heading to Fremont, Grand Island, Hastings, Kearney, Norfolk and North Platte where the telemed abortion process may be used.
The legislative proposal would prohibit Nebraska physicians from prescribing and dispensing the abortion drug via the Internet, which Planned Parenthood of the Heartland has done in Iowa in more than 2,000 cases since mid-2008.
Nebraska Right to Life director Julie Schmit-Albin says women who get the abortion drug without an in-person exam and visit with a physician are left to deal with any consequences alone and she pointed to stories of “young girls being sent home to hemorrhage and deliver their babies at home not knowing what to expect.”
“This isn’t about women’s access to “healthcare” but more about Planned Parenthood reaching its tentacles across the vast expanse of our state into rural areas where they have not been and inflicting a dangerous drug cocktail on women and young girls who might end up in their local emergency rooms hours away from the abortionist who started the abortion,” she said.
She said women visiting Planned Parenthood for the telemed abortions “are told by Planned Parenthood to act like they are having a miscarriage if they go into an ER after having problems at home. So the local ER doctor doesn’t even know that her problem is due to a chemical abortion.”
“How is this about improving women’s health?” Schmit-Albin asked. “It’s all about the bottom line for Planned Parenthood: money.”
