Planned Parenthood closes two Iowa clinics

Planned Parenthood of the Heartland is closing two small clinics in southwest Iowa, which will further limit women's options to obtain abortion pills.

The agency uses a first-in-the-nation video-conferencing system to dispense the pills to women in outlying clinics. But women in the Red Oak and Creston areas will have to travel farther to obtain that service or other Planned Parenthood services, such as birth control consultations. The clinics were among at least 11 satellite clinics the agency shuttered in recent years.

The agency said the Red Oak and Creston clinics were only open by appointment, and are being closed because of "a shifting need for services." Patients will be referred to remaining clinics, including seven that provide the telemedicine abortions and two that also provide surgical abortions.

Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Angie Remington denied that the decision was sparked by abortion opponents' objections to the clinics. "The decision to close the health centers was based on an effort to eliminate inefficiency in resources - shifting the staff and equipment required for certain services from health centers where request for those services was low to areas where our patients are more densely located and availing themselves of our services," Remington wrote in an email to the Register Wednesday.

Abortion opponents cheered the latest news, saying they believe the closures are due to their prayers and efforts to discourage women from obtaining the procedures or pills. Sue Thayer, a former Planned Parenthood clinic manager in Storm Lake who is now a leading opponent of the agency, noted that Council Bluffs and Sioux City are now the only places in western Iowa where abortions are available. The two new closings came after prayer vigils at the clinics, she said. "I think it's good news for babies in Red Oak and Creston."

Planned Parenthood, which is Iowa's largest provider of abortions, closed similar clinics in Ankeny, Fort Dodge, Mount Pleasant and Washington last fall. In the previous two years, it also closed clinics in Spencer, Fort Madison, Storm Lake, Knoxville and Newton.

The agency still offers telemedicine abortions in Ames, Bettendorf, Burlington, Cedar Falls, Council Bluffs, Dubuque and Sioux City. It also offers surgical abortions in Iowa City and Des Moines.

Planned Parenthood of the Heartland is fighting in court to maintain its doctors' ability to use the telemedicine system to dispense abortion pills. The Iowa Board of Medicine ruled last year effectively banned doctors from using the system. Board members all were appointed by Gov. Terry Branstad, a Republican who opposes abortion. They said their decision was based on concerns about patient safety, though Planned Parenthood supporters say the decision was an attempt to limit rural women's access to a safe and legal method of abortion. The board's ruling is on hold during Planned Parenthood's legal appeal. A hearing in that case is set for June 16 in Polk County District Court.