Planned Parenthood Abortion Referral Clinic Closes in Connecticut

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Mar 25, 2013   |   1:51PM   |   Shelton, CT

A Planned Parenthood clinic in Connecticut that arranged for abortions for women at another nearby facility closed on Friday. Planned Parenthood of Southern New England closed its clinic in Shelton as a cost containment decision.

The Connecticut Post has more information on the closing of the clinic in a state where Planned Parenthood operates three abortion clinics and a handful of others that also dispense the dangerous abortion drug.

The Shelton center, at 415 Howe Ave., was closed because “we made a decision to focus on the continued upgrade of our other existing centers,” said Jenny Carrillo, senior vice president of external affairs and strategic planning for Planned Parenthood of Southern New England. Carrillo said the Shelton office is the only Planned Parenthood site in Connecticut closing. The organization, which provides abortions and access to birth control along with many other health services, is sometimes a target for funding cuts, but Carrillo said no such concerns played a role in shuttering the Shelton office. Rather, she said, it was a strategic decision to close one of the organization’s smaller offices.

Carrillo said the center employed four people, all of whom are either retiring or going to other jobs within Planned Parenthood.

A 2009 report drafted by the Connecticut Catholic Conference shows the number of abortions and abortion rates increasing in the northeastern state. The report has the abortion rate increasing in Connecticut even as national numbers show abortions on the decline.  That was the second annual report issued by the Connecticut Catholic Conference and it showed the abortion rate in the state has grown by 15.5 percent between 2000 and 2007. The abortion rate rose from 18 abortions per 1,000 women of childbearing age in 2000 to 20.79 abortions in 2007.

July 2008 figures from Guttmacher indicate abortions rose from 12,110 in 2005 to 14,112 in 2006. In 2007, the number rose again to 14,534, an increase of 422 more abortions.

CLICK LIKE IF YOU’RE PRO-LIFE!

 

In June 2009, Connecticut and Rhode Island announced plans to merge to form Planned Parenthood of Southern New England. The new group oversees centers in Connecticut and one in Providence, the capital of Rhode Island. Prior to the merger, according to numbers from the Journal, Planned Parenthood of Connecticut had a $22 million budget and 230 employees while the Rhode Island affiliate’s $2.8 million budget covers 22 workers.