by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
February 11, 2008
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The nation's largest abortion business has closed facilities in five states, including two locations in Illinois, one and Idaho and merging two in Kentucky. The abortion business claims the closures are the result of a lack of funding in the way of taxpayer dollars, even though the business maintains millions in the bank and makes money on an annual basis.
According to STOPP International, a watchdog group, Planned Parenthood closed an express clinic in Nampa, Idaho, an express clinic in Naperville, Illinois, and a non-express clinic in Lincoln, Illinois.
It has also closed or merged centers in Ohio and Michigan in recent weeks.
Planned Parenthood closed its Naperville facility because it recently opened a massive new abortion center in Aurora that has been the subject of international controversy because the abortion business used a fake name to get zoning approval to build it.
Robin Beach, a regional chief operating officer in Illinois, told the Lincoln Courier newspaper that its Logan County clinic couldn't afford to service the 400 women who went there for family planning yearly.
"We just found that it was becoming more and more difficult to fund the program with the rising cost in service delivery and decrease in funding," she said.
"Ultimately, when we sat down with the health department to look at ways we might be able to decrease the cost or increase the funding, we just couldn't come to any sort of conclusion," she added.
The group sent a letter to its clients telling them of the closure and encouraging them to join its political branch to promote legalized abortion.
Illinois residents can still find Planned Parenthood centers at Bloomington, Clinton, Decatur or Springfield, so the abortion business still has a presence in the area.
In the Kentucky merger, STOPP International informed LifeNews.com that Planned Parenthood of Blue Grass and Planned Parenthood of Louisville have merged into Planned Parenthood of Kentucky which gives Planned Parenthood a total of 107 affiliates nationwide.
The group's director Jim Sedlak told LifeNews.com that pro-life groups should continue pressuring for an end to state and federal funding of the pro-abortion.
Even at Planned Parenthood centers that don't do abortions, women are given abortion referrals and are rarely told about adoption or alternatives, he said.
"Remember, Planned Parenthood needs money to run its clinics. Take your tax dollars away from Planned Parenthood," he encouraged.
Pro-life advocates say Planned Parenthood is closing smaller centers in favor of larger ones where abortions are done and then arguing that governments are cutting back funds and that abortions are not as widely available.
