INDIANAPOLIS (BP)–Planned Parenthood of Indiana will shut down five of its clinics in the central part of the state.
Clinics in northwest Indianapolis and in Anderson, Franklin, Kokomo and Shelbyville will close during the next six months due to a projected shortfall in federal assistance, according to the Associated Press, but no abortion services are provided at the five locations.
The clinics will close because Planned Parenthood expects to lose some of its funding when the nonprofit Indiana Family Health Council assumes responsibility for administering about $2 million in Title XX funds, the Indianapolis Star reported. The council places limits on fees for low-income patients at clinics receiving funding, thus crimping Planned Parenthood revenue.
Planned Parenthood will continue to operate 29 other clinics across Indiana.
In December, employees at clinics in Bloomington and Indianapolis lost their jobs after being shown on undercover video tape trying to cover up alleged child sexual abuse. An employee in each clinic was shown on the video telling a girl who identified herself as a 13-year-old impregnated by a 31-year-old man that she would not file a report. Such a report is required by state law. Each employee also told the girl she could get an abortion in another state in order to avoid Indiana’s parental consent law.
The Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) is the country’s leading abortion provider. Its affiliates performed more than 305,000 abortions in 2007, the most recent year for which statistics are available. PPFA received more than $349 million in government grants and contracts during the financial year of July 2007 to June 2008. The organization’s total revenue was $1.04 billion during that time period.
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Compiled by Baptist Press Washington bureau chief Tom Strode.
