Planned Parenthood Closes Two Centers After President Trump Defunds Abortion Biz

State   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Sep 9, 2019   |   8:20PM   |   Columbus, Ohio

The Planned Parenthood abortion chain will shut down two facilities in Ohio later this month after it refused to comply with a rule for taxpayer-funded grants from President Donald Trump.

The facilities are located in Springdale and Western Hills in the Cincinnati area, and both will close Sept. 20, according to ABC News. Neither performed abortions but both referred for them. Planned Parenthood still operates five other facilities in the area.

“Today’s announcement is more encouraging news that Ohio women are simply walking away from Planned Parenthood and securing real healthcare elsewhere,” said Stephanie Ranade Krider, vice president and executive director of Ohio Right to Life.

Both she and Planned Parenthood leaders linked the announcement to a new Trump administration rule for Title X grants. The rule prohibits grantees from promoting or performing abortions in the same facility that provides Title X services. It helps to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not indirectly subsidizing abortions.

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Title X grants help low-income individuals access birth control, cancer screenings, STI tests and treatments and other health care services. The funds are not supposed to be used for abortions.

Planned Parenthood, which does more abortions than any other group in the U.S., used to receive about $60 million annually through the program, but it recently refused to comply with the new rule.

Krider said the decision made it clear that abortion is a top priority at Planned Parenthood.

“It’s obvious that Planned Parenthood needs women more than women need them,” she said. “With other options outnumbering Planned Parenthood 17 to 1, Ohio’s healthcare community stands ready to support all women in the greater Cincinnati area.”

However, Kersha Deibel, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region, blamed the Title X rule and the pro-life laws being passed in Ohio, as reasons for their decision to close the two facilities.

“These closures are the result of years attacks on our ability to provide reproductive health care,” Deibel said. “Ohio politicians have passed 22 [pro-life] measures in recent years, including a defunding bill that went into effect earlier this year. Then came the changes to the Title X program …”

Deibel also claimed that pro-lifers want to see a world where women lose access to birth control and low-income individuals cannot access STI tests or cancer screenings, National Review reports.

But, as pro-life advocates have noted, the Trump administration still supports those health care services through Title X. It just is not funding pro-abortion groups anymore.

“The Protect Life Rule doesn’t cut a single dime from family planning. It instead directs tax dollars to Title X centers that do not promote or perform abortions” the Susan B. Anthony List said in a statement.

Ohio lawmakers also have been directing more money to help pregnant and parenting families, while defunding Planned Parenthood. The state budget, which passed in July, provides $7.5 million for programs that help women and babies.

At the national level, the Trump administration finalized the Title X administrative rule in March, requiring that grantees completely separate their abortion practices from their actual health services. This action adds to Trump’s record of defunding the Planned Parenthood abortion company.