HAMILTON, Ohio — Planned Parenthood has announced the closure of two Southwest Ohio health centers after Medicaid cuts at both the state and federal levels.
The "big, beautiful bill" passed by Congress earlier this month included a provision that bans health care providers who perform abortions and receive more than $800,000 in federal reimbursements from participating in the Medicaid program, impacting Planned Parenthood.
Due to the funding cuts, Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region said its health centers in Springfield and Hamilton will close Aug. 1.
"Make no mistake: this was not a decision made by Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region," said Nan Whaley, the region's president and CEO. "We took every possible step to keep these centers open, but the devastating impact of state and federal political attacks has forced us into this very difficult position."
Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region said the two centers see thousands of patients each year for preventative health care services like STI testing and treatment, birth control and wellness exams. Neither location provides abortion services.
Not all staff positions will be retained, and Planned Parenthood said they are attempting to minimize layoffs for affected employees.
No additional closures are expected at this time.
Hear from supporters and opponents of the decision to close the Planned Parenthood location:
Right to Life Ohio President Mike Gonodakis celebrated the closures when we reached out Thursday, saying provisions in the federal bill preventing tax dollars from reaching abortion providers have been a long-time goal for conservatives.
"It's a monumental, groundbreaking moment for the pro-life movement," Gonodakis said.
He said patients who sought care at the two facilities would be able to seek care elsewhere.
"It's just going to be two less, two less abortion providers providing these services, but I can assure all the women and all the men in Hamilton County that there are still countless places to go get these types of services," Gonodakis said.
A representative of the Columbus-based Center for Community Solutions, however, warned that cuts to Medicaid access could impact healthcare access in Ohio, especially in rural areas.
John Corlett is a Visiting Senior Fellow with the group.
"It shuts the door to those patients, and, in many parts of Ohio, we already have what are called 'maternity deserts' where there is no provider at all that provides any kind of maternity or reproductive health care for women, and this will make that worse," Corlett said.
Abortion Forward Executive Director warned that patients will have to travel further to receive preventative and reproductive healthcare, and she challenged Planned Parenthood opponents.
"I guess I wonder how they would feel if they had to choose other doctors because someone interfered," she said.
In a statement, Democratic Congressman Greg Landsman criticised Republicans who passed the bill:
"Women rely on these clinics for cancer screenings. Because of their horrible bill, women lost their healthcare provider. It’s absolutely an attack on women.
This is just the beginning as hundreds of thousands of Ohioans will lose their healthcare because they decided to cut it in order to pay for tax cuts for the super-wealthy."
Whaley said Planned Parenthood has withstood decades of efforts to prevent them from providing abortion care in the past.
"We have been here for 96 years, in this region. Planned Parenthood nationally has been around for more than 100, and we're not going anywhere," she said.
Whaley said abortion care would continue to be offered at their center in Cincinnati.
Gonodakis said Ohio Right to Life would continue to work toward their closure.
"I would like to live in a world where we have no abortions, and we had peace, and we didn't have world hunger, but we do have all of those, and we've got to keep working hard to help our fellow neighbors," said Gonodakis.
