Planned Parenthood to close four health centers in New York due to financial woes
Planned Parenthood announced that it would close four health centers in the state of New York due to financial challenges.
The proposed closure of facilities in Goshen, Amsterdam, Cobleskill and Staten Island is the result of "compounding financial and political challenges."
"By closing smaller or part-time sites, PPGNY can maximize resources to best deliver patient care throughout New York," a press release said.
Clinic closures are scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2024, pending approval by the New York State Department of Health. PPGNY will also temporarily pause deep sedation in Manhattan starting September 3.
Patients will still be able to access "local anesthesia and moderate sedation" for in-clinic abortion and IUD insertion and removal, the announcement said. Instead of outsourcing anesthesiology services, PPGNY will instead utilize in-house physicians and nurses to administer pain management to patients at its Manhattan facility.
"During this time of deep financial crisis, PPGNY simply cannot afford to contract anesthesiology services in Manhattan without sacrificing other essential patient services and community-centered programs throughout the state," the press release said. "Our physicians and nurses are committed to ensuring high-quality, patient-centered care using safe and effective minimal and moderate pain management options."
Planned Parenthood will also "temporarily pause deep sedation services" for pain management, which are used for late-term abortions at it's Manhattan clinic, according to the press release.
Because of this, the Manhattan location will now be unable to provide abortions "at over 20+ weeks gestation" and said that patients who need abortion later in pregnancy or need deep sedation will be referred to one of PPGNY's medical partners.
MILLIONS FOR LATE-TERM ABORTION CLINIC, TRANSGENDER DEVICES BURIED DEEP IN $1.2T SPENDING PACKAGE
"Patients who need abortion later in pregnancy are among the most vulnerable among the communities we serve," the announcement read. "We know many cannot afford the cost of procedural abortion, and we are heartbroken that PPGNY is unable at this time to absorb the cost of their sedation when provided by an outside anesthesia service. We are fully committed to resuming procedural abortion later in pregnancy in the near future."
Emily Erin Davis, VP of communications at Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, applauded the news in a statement to Fox News Digital.
"Even in one of the most pro-abortion states in the country, when they aren't making enough money from abortions they close up shop," she said. "Pregnancy resource centers offer real options without profiting from the misery of women and children. That's why they succeed even while fighting back against the Democrats' efforts to shut them down through lawfare."
In the spring of 2024, Planned Parenthood of Greater New York (PPGNY) began a "strategic reconfiguring" of its operations, but due to "failures in the U.S. health care system" that have "yielded unprecedented challenges," it has been forced to take "serious and immediate cost-saving measures and pursue long-term structural shifts," according to the announcement.
PPGNY said challenges include growing operating expenses, unreliable insurer reimbursements, ongoing pandemic recovery, a hostile political landscape and "a state budget that fell short of responding to the needs of sexual and reproductive health care providers."
PPGNY President and CEO, Wendy Stark, said the changes are "part of the overarching health care crisis in the United States."
"As a leading health care provider in an abortion and gender-affirming care access state, PPGNY is striving to meet the demands of today, tomorrow, and the future," she said. "We move into this next step understanding that the difficult decisions we are forced to make today are strategies to preserve our ability to provide comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care in the long term amid ongoing fiscal and political challenges."
"We will continue to make long-term investments in our future and for reproductive freedom by advocating for higher reimbursement rates from Medicaid and private insurers," she added.
When reached for comment, PPGNY directed Fox News Digital to the press release announcing the news.