Planned Parenthood closes Louisiana clinics after 40 years due to financial and political pressure

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BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — 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. The organization is also halting advocacy work in Louisiana, where the state's Republican leaders have cheered on the closures.

The closures were “not the result of a lack of need” but rather the outcome of “relentless political assaults that have made it impossible for us to continue operating sustainably in Louisiana," said Melaney Linton, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast.

Supporters have said the closures will have a detrimental impact on Louisiana, where Planned Parenthood has never been licensed to perform abortions in the state but did provide other medical care services to nearly 11,000 patients last year at its Baton Rouge and New Orleans clinics.

Advocates and medical professionals fear that the organization’s departure will further exacerbate reproductive health care in a state that Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows already has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country. In addition, a March report by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s office noted the state’s significant OB-GYN shortage and health care deserts.

Trump’s spending and tax plan instructs the federal government to end Medicaid payments for one year to certain abortion providers. While the organization is seeking to have its funding restored through the courts, Planned Parenthood officials have warned that around one-third of roughly 600 clinics could be forced to close.

Earlier this year, five clinics in California and eight in Iowa and Minnesota shut their doors. In the past week, the Wisconsin affiliate announced that it would stop providing abortion and the Arizona affiliate said it would halt Medicaid-funded services.

Louisiana joins Wyoming, North Dakota and Mississippi as states where the organization is absent.

“This is a win for babies, a win for mothers, and a win for LIFE!” Republican Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry posted on social media Tuesday.

Planned Parenthood provides a wide range of services, including cancer screenings and sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment. Federal Medicaid money was already not paying for abortion, but affiliates relied on Medicaid to stay afloat.

In Louisiana, a state with one of the nation's highest poverty rates, 60% of patients at Planned Parenthood clinics used Medicaid. Last year, the clinics in Louisiana provided nearly 30,000 tests for sexually transmitted infections, 14,400 visits for birth control, 1,800 cancer screenings and 655 ultrasounds.

Nearly a decade ago, Jordyn Martin said she turned to Planned Parenthood when she couldn't afford medical services anywhere else. While at the clinic, a doctor offered Martin a free HIV test. A week later, she was diagnosed with the virus.

“Planned Parenthood saved my life,” said Martin, who went on to volunteer for the organization.

Outside of the New Orleans Planned Parenthood clinic Tuesday, several people gathered and brought thank-you notes to the organization that has spent four decades in Louisiana. Inside the building, up until close, staff worked to connect patients with alternative health care providers.

Starting Wednesday, calls to Planned Parenthood numbers in Louisiana will be transferred to the nearest location in Texas or Arkansas.

Michelle Erenberg, the head of a New Orleans-based abortion rights group named LIFT, said people have been contacting her for help to find new clinics. She said it was important to connect people with providers but worries about the strain it will put on clinics that are already short-staffed.

“Whether patients are going to be able to get appointments quickly, or access all of the services that Planned Parenthood provided, is unknown at this point," she said.