Planned Parenthood is closing six clinics in outstate Minnesota on Aug. 1 because of federal budget cuts made this spring in a highly politicized abortion battle.StarTrib
The state's largest provider of family planning and abortions announced the closures Monday, citing an 11 percent reduction in its budget because of cuts to the federal Title X program.
Closing are clinics in Thief River Falls, Brainerd, Red Wing, Owatonna, Albert Lea and Fairmont. [who refer their abortions to St Paul]
Unaffected is Planned Parenthood's clinic in St. Paul, which performed nearly one-third of the 12,388 abortions in Minnesota in 2009.
Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., is among the lawmakers who called for de-funding Title X. While the program cannot fund abortions, lawmakers still opposed the secondary financial support it offered to organizations that provide them. "Taxpayer funds should not be directed to this heinous organization, especially at a time when our nation's debt exceeds $14 trillion," Bachmann's press secretary, Becky Rogness, said Monday.
Minnesota has received roughly $3.5 million per year in Title X funds, with $3 million going to Planned Parenthood and the rest going to a Ramsey County family planning program.
This is just from Fed funding, not MN budget cuts. Obviously Title X funding should have been removed completely. But obviously we are seeing signs of the country moving forward.
HT Bliss
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