Abortion

Planned Parenthood in Columbia, Missouri, Will No Longer Provide Abortions Starting July 1st

The clinic says a lack of abortion providers will force it to stop offering terminations.

Anti-choice protesters outside the Columbia Clinic. [img src]

Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri has announced that as of the 1st of July, the Columbia clinic will no longer be able to provide abortions due to lack of a provider.

Via the Associated Press:

Officials of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri made the announcement Tuesday, citing a lack of available doctors. The suspension is indefinite, and the organization says it will offer referrals to other centers in Kansas and Missouri until abortions resume in Columbia.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/06/26/3678088/abortions-to-be-suspended-at-columbia.html#storylink=cpy

Peter Brownlie, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, said via statement, “We regret the unfortunate impact for central Missouri women who want and need access to abortion; we are committed to resuming these services as soon as possible.” However, no specific time frame was offered.

The suspension is the latest sign of the serious crisis that those who seek access to safe, legal abortion will encounter as fewer providers are being trained to perform terminations or are willing to provide elective abortions in a public setting due to harrassment and threats. 

The clinic had already suspended services once before in October of 2011, when their sole provider went on active duty. That one provider leaving the country can shut down an entire clinic’s services, leaving women either without access or forced to travel to other clinics, incurring more expenses along the way, is yet another reminder of how there is more than one avenue when it comes to making abortion unavailable.

Kansas recently moved to forbid abortion training at any state-funded school, calling it “taxpayer funded abortion.” despite the fact that the schools themselves don’t provide the training on campus. As more states try tactics along that line, expect the provider pipeline to continue to dwindle, and more clinic suspensions to be coming down the road.