(LifeSiteNews) – The prominent abortion provider Planned Parenthood has closed five abortion clinics in New England, referencing “limited resources and the national crisis for reproductive health access.”
On June 12, citing staffing problems and politics, Planned Parenthood closed four Vermont facilities in Hyde Park, Bennington, St. Albans, Middlebury, along with its Claremont abortion center in New Hampshire.
“When we were looking at which health centers to expand and which would be closing, we looked at geography,” Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Nicole Clegg said, promising other clinics would expand their hours.
In place of the “health centers,” the abortion organization promoted “telehealth” visits wherein women could have a virtual meeting with Planned Parenthood staff before being sent abortion drugs. This is significantly more cost efficient for Planned Parenthood.
While Clegg cited “underfunding” as a reason for the closures, she did not specify if this referred to donations or tax dollars.
READ: More than 20 pregnancy centers in the US have faced pro-abortion attacks since leaked Roe opinion
The closure of the Claremont center in New Hampshire comes after New Hampshire lawmakers defunded the abortion giant of more than $1 million in state taxpayer dollars by rejecting contracts with Planned Parenthood, earlier this year.
However, the Biden administration then offered Planned Parenthood $500,000 in federal tax dollars.
The closure of the five New England abortion centers follows Planned Parenthood’s closure of its Boise facility, leaving only two remaining Planned Parenthood centers in Idaho. The abortion giant blamed the decision on the likely overturning of Roe v. Wade.
However, in the case of the New England centers, it is not clear that limits on abortions are the cause for the closures. The facilities in Middlebury, Vermont and Claremont, New Hampshire closed despite few limitations on abortion in both states.
Additionally, neither of these states have plans to limit abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned. Accordingly, should abortion be limited in other states, Planned Parenthood would likely encourage women to come to centers in Vermont and New Hampshire instead.
Planned Parenthood referenced their “limited resources and the national crisis for reproductive health access” as a reason for closing the abortion facilities. However, recent polling showed that Americans are becoming overwhelmingly pro-life, resulting in fewer women seeking abortions and thereby reducing Planned Parenthood’s profit.
According to a Rasmussen Reports survey released May 17, which polled 1,000 likely voters on May 15-16, a sweeping 67% of respondents said they “believe abortion should not be legal past the first three months of pregnancy,” including 24% who think “all abortions should be illegal.”
READ: Two-thirds of Americans believe abortion should be banned after the first trimester: poll
Only 13% said they think “abortion should be legal at any time during a pregnancy before the moment of birth,” and another 13% said they would support legal abortion up to the sixth month of pregnancy.
Since news broke of the potential overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court, many states have responded by passing a series of pro-life laws to protect defenseless unborn children. Several states have revealed plans to protect the unborn by banning most or all abortions.