(LifeSiteNews) — Planned Parenthood North Central States (PPNCS) announced on Friday that it will shut down four facilities in Iowa and four more in Minnesota in the coming year, attributing the move to recently enacted state laws prohibiting many abortions, the Trump administration’s current freeze on some federal funding, and likely future federal budget cuts to the abortion giant.
Of the eight to be closed, only two reportedly offer abortion procedures, including its facility in Ames, where Iowa State University is located.
According to an Associated Press report, five remaining PPNCS locations will still be committing abortions in Minnesota, including three in the Minneapolis metro area. No Planned Parenthood location will offering abortion procedures in Iowa.
PPNCS said it will lay off 66 employees and will seek to relocate 37 others within the organization.
“We have been fighting to hold together an unsustainable infrastructure as the landscape shifts around us and an onslaught of attacks continues,” said PPNCS president and CEO Ruth Richardson in a statement. “We know that many of our patients would have nowhere to turn if every Planned Parenthood health center were to disappear from their state.” In other words, many women would have difficulty killing their unborn children.
Planned Parenthood operations are slated to cease in the following locations:
- Ames Health Center – Ames, Iowa
- Cedar Rapids Health Center – Cedar Rapids, Iowa
- Sioux City Health Center – Sioux City, Iowa
- Urbandale Health Center – Urbandale, Iowa
- Alexandria Health Center – Alexandria, Minnesota
- Apple Valley Health Center – Apple Valley, Minnesota
- Bemidji Health Center – Bemidji, Minnesota
- Richfield Health Center – Richfield, Minnesota
In addition to committing abortions, Planned Parenthood is a major supplier of transgender hormones, including to children, as well as obscene, pro-LGBT “sexual education” and abortifacient contraception.
READ: Planned Parenthood offers transgender hormones to minors at first appointment: undercover report
Iowa and Minnesota are served by vastly different political machines whose policy pursuits stand in stark contrast. Iowa’s GOP-dominated state house and governor’s mansion have steadily moved toward creating a safe haven for the unborn, while Minnesota has doubled down on anti-life legislation.
As such, Planned Parenthood will continue to have a strong presence in the North Star State, with 10 facilities continuing to operate following the closures in the coming year.
Last year, Iowa’s newly enacted heartbeat law reportedly contributed to a nearly 40-percent drop in abortions, according to a report by the Guttmacher Institute.
The law, which generally prohibits abortion after six weeks, went into effect on July 29, following legal challenges. It includes exceptions for rape, incest, allegedly fatal “fetal abnormalities,” and supposed threats to the mother’s life, as LifeSiteNews previously reported. Abortion, the destruction of an innocent child in the womb, is never necessary for medical reasons or justifiable.
READ: Planned Parenthood faces numerous allegations of botched abortions, other injuries: New York Times
In March of this year, a bill before the Minnesota House of Representatives that would have protected the lives of babies who survive botched abortions failed to pass, with every Democrat voting against the measure.
Known as the “Born Alive Rollback,” bill HF 24 called for “born alive” infants to be “fully recognized as a human person” and aimed to mandate that medical professionals provide immediate and appropriate care to preserve the life and health of these infants, ensuring they receive the same legal recognition and medical treatment as any other newborn.
A second bill, HF 25, known as the “Supporting Women Act,” which would have directed taxpayer dollars to crisis pregnancy centers, was similarly defeated with every Democrat voting against it.
“Rather than choosing to affirm life and give expecting mothers support and the gift of choice, House Democrats chose to make these political issues and voted against these bills,” Republican Rep. Patricia Miller said. “House Republicans are committed to fighting for these rights and hope to reconsider the bills later in the session.”
