Planned Parenthood of Michigan says it will have to close more abortion clinics in the state if it does not receive a one-time, $5 million allocation from the state. The organization is calling on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to take action, although budgetary process constraints could make the request difficult to fulfill.
During a media call Wednesday, May 13, the organization’s leaders said cuts to federal funding for abortion services and reproductive health care under President Donald Trump’s administration threaten clinics in Michigan. Without a one-time allocation of $5 million from the state, the organization will have to close additional locations in Michigan, Paula Thornton Greear, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Michigan, said in a letter to Whitmer sent Wednesday.
It’s not immediately clear what funding pool Whitmer could allocate funds to Planned Parenthood from. Typically, state dollars are earmarked for spending through the budget process, when the governor and each chamber of the Michigan Legislature hash out a spending plan. Any supplemental spending would also have to go through the Legislature, where Democrats control the Senate and Republicans control the House. It’s not likely the House would support state funding for Planned Parenthood.
“Gov. Whitmer is one of the country’s greatest champions for reproductive freedom. Under the Michigan Constitution, the Legislature has the responsibility to allocate state funds,” Stacey LaRouche, Whitmer’s press secretary, told the Detroit Free Press over email Wednesday. “We would encourage any organization or individual to work with the Legislature on their budget asks.”
Thornton Greear said other governors have maneuvered one-time funding to their Planned Parenthood affiliates, noting a $4 million earmark for Planned Parenthood in Illinois authorized by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
“We urge the governor to pursue every pathway,” Thornton Greear said, calling for “urgency and creativity.”
“The specific mechanism matters less than the outcome at this point.”
Currently, Planned Parenthood has 10 health centers in Michigan where patients can receive reproductive healthcare, including medication and in-clinic abortions. The group closed health centers in Jackson, Marquette and Petoskey and consolidated its two Ann Arbor locations last year, also citing cuts in federal funding.
Grant funding through the federal Title X program has undergone a shift since Trump returned to office for a second, non-consecutive term early last year. Title X provides federal funding for family planning for low-income and uninsured individuals, according to KFF, and hundreds of abortion providers throughout the country rely on the funding.
In March, Democrats in Congress warned U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., in a letter that providers would face a funding cliff under changes to grant guidelines made by the department, NPR reported.
Thornton Greear said Wednesday a $5 million allocation from the state would cover services through October, when the next round of Title X funding is expected. But Planned Parenthood of Michigan cannot afford to hang on that long, and Michiganders would lose access to reproductive care without state relief, she said.
“Without state action, we will be forced to make decisions about our footprint that cannot be undone,” Thornton Greear told reporters.
You can reach Arpan Lobo at alobo@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Planned Parenthood: Michigan clinics will close if state doesn’t provide $5M
Reporting by Arpan Lobo, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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