KFF HEALTH NEWS – Growing financial and political pressure led to the closures of its Baton Rouge and New Orleans clinics. No abortions were performed at the clinics, which provided other medical care services to nearly 11,000 patients last year, AP reported.
AP: Planned Parenthood Shuts Down All Operations In Louisiana After 40 Years
Planned Parenthood on Tuesday shuttered its two clinics in Louisiana over what the organization said were mounting financial and political challenges that made operating in the state no longer possible after more than 40 years.
The closures make Louisiana the most populous of just four states with no Planned Parenthood locations.
The exit underlines the pressures on Planned Parenthood as it warns of wider closures nationwide in the face of Medicaid funding cuts in President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill. (Cline, 10/1)
WDSU: New Orleans Health Department Provides Resources After Planned Parenthood Closure
The City of New Orleans Department of Health said it remains committed to protecting access to essential sexual and reproductive health care and has provided a list of available services. (Lowrey, 9/30)
By one early afternoon in late August, Dr. Colleen McNicholas had already inserted an IUD, seen a patient to provide gender-affirming care and helped a patient access HIV prevention medication.
After the Idaho Legislature’s near-total abortion ban took effect three years ago, the state has lost more than a third of its OB-GYN doctors — and new recruits aren’t making up for the losses, a peer-reviewed study recently found.
Planned Parenthood has expanded services to fill in gaps left behind, said McNicholas, anOB-GYN at the clinic and the chief clinical transformation officer for the regional Planned Parenthood affiliate. (Pfannenstiel, 10/1)
In abortion news —
The 19th: Abortion’s Most Motivated Voters Went From Defenders To Opponents
Americans who call abortion their top voting issue are now more likely to support banning it, a reversal from the energized reproductive rights supporters who turned abortion into a key election issue after Roe v. Wade was overturned. (Luthra, 9/30)
This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
