Planned Parenthood is closing two of its Indianapolis health centers today as the abortion business consolidates operations into a single location following federal funding cuts.
The Midtown and Southside abortion centers will end operations today, with abortions shifting to the Georgetown Health Center on the city’s northwest side. The move reduces Planned Parenthood to eight brick-and-mortar centers statewide plus one virtual center that sells the dangerous abortion pill that kills babies and injures women.
The closures follow last year’s congressional action, signed by President Donald Trump, that largely defunded the organization of federal taxpayer dollars.
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Planned Parenthood’s regional affiliate announced the consolidation of its three Indianapolis centers into one, citing additional appointment availability at the Georgetown location.
Indiana’s 2022 pro-life law banning most abortions, which requires any abortions to take place in hospitals, provides the legal backdrop. Pro-life advocates have welcomed the reduced footprint of the abortion business in the state as a consequence of defunding measures that protect taxpayer dollars from subsidizing the industry.
The closures come as Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita continues a legal fight to block Medicaid reimbursements to Planned Parenthood that frees up funds for its abortion business. Rokita is also defending the state’s pro-life law in court.
On March 24, U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Walton Pratt denied the state’s request to lift a permanent injunction against such restrictions. Planned Parenthood has until April 13 to respond to the state’s appeal.
The federal funding freeze is set to expire on July 4 unless Congress acts to extend restrictions. Another reconciliation bill is in the works to accomplish that.
A separate Marion County Superior Court ruling on March 5 added tension when Judge Christina R. Klineman issued a permanent injunction blocking enforcement of parts of Indiana’s abortion ban after somehow claiming there is a religious right to kill babies in abortions.
Indiana Right to Life President and CEO Mike Fichter criticized that decision, saying: “For the court to rule that taking the life of an unborn child is an exercise of religious freedom is deeply distressing—and a perversion of the law’s intent. Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act was never intended to equate taking the life of an unborn child with religious expression in our state.”
