June 29, 2010

By Randall K. O'Bannon, Ph.D. National Right to Life's Director of Education & Research

A Planned Parenthood affiliate from one state merges with one in a neighboring state. So what's the big deal?

Recent events in Nebraska show what a huge and deadly difference in makes.

Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa merged with Planned Parenthood of Nebraska/Council Bluffs in September of 2009, forming Planned Parenthood of the Heartland. Nebraska faced "rising medical expenses and dwindling resources," said the Omaha World Herald in reporting on the merger, and saw it as "a way to maintain services and cut costs" (8/3/09).

(Planned Parenthood of the Heartland is the same affiliate that recently made news for instituting an abortion telemedicine program. Women at distant, often smaller clinics teleconference with a doctor at another center who, after a brief conference, remotely unlocks a drawer at the woman's location containing abortion pills. See NRL News, June 2010).

A few employees were laid off when the original Iowa affiliate began running the clinics in Nebraska under a temporary management contract in April of 2009. But Jill June, the CEO of the Greater Iowa affiliate and head of the new entity, told the press at the time of the merger that she hoped the merger would allow the organization to grow (Omaha World Herald, 8/3/09).

Now, just a few months later, June's intentions are becoming clearer.

The headline from June 26, 2010 edition of the Lincoln Journal Star says it all: "Planned Parenthood to offer abortions in Omaha."

Whether this will be one of new Planned Parenthood megaclinics now popping up all over the country is not clear at this point. But according to the Journal Star, the new clinic "will house administrative offices and a full range of services, including surgical and medical abortions, including RU-486 (the abortion pill)."

Planned Parenthood had two smaller clinics in Omaha prior to the merger, but neither had offered abortions. One of those closest to the new location will merge with the new clinic. The new site was chosen because it was "accessible to the public."

This may be just the first of many changes. Jill June tells the Journal Star that there could be other sites in Omaha if opportunities present themselves and says the group is looking for a new location in Lincoln. It has sold one Lincoln location and has another on the market, but continues to operate at both locations while it searches for a site that better fits their specifications for a clinic.

The idea of a central hub clinic with several surrounding it well suits this operating model, and it is no surprise that June looks to Des Moines, which has five clinics (and the telemedicine) as a model for Omaha, which she considers "underserved" (Lincoln Journal Star, 6/26/10)

All across the country, Planned Parenthood is building giant new megaclinics and remodeling and expanding many of its existing clinics. In the process PPFA is adding new contemporary furnishing and decorator colors and hues to offer a new, modern, warm, professional look, hoping to attract more upscale customers. (See Stephanie Simon, "Planned Parenthood Hits Suburbia: Abortion Provider Goes Upscale." http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121417762585295459.html.) Expressing similar intentions, June told the Journal Star, "We plan to provide a contemporary medical facility."

The new megaclinics offer Planned Parenthood room not only to expand abortion services, but administrative, marketing, and political functions. In the week following the announcement of the new clinic in Omaha, Planned Parenthood of the Heartland filed a federal lawsuit. It challenged a new law in Nebraska requiring doctors to inform women about the risks associated with abortion, calling it an attack on patients, "providers," and "on the ethics and integrity of the medical profession" (Lincoln Journal Star, 6/28/10). If the abortion industry told women the truth about abortion, about what it does to them and their babies, such laws might not be necessary, but they resist doing so.

It is wise to remember that a merger does not simply mean that one business closes while another survives, but that the weaker partner gets brought under the management of the stronger, more aggressive, more successful partner.

Thanks to the new team, Planned Parenthood of the Heartland reported that abortions at the affiliate increased from 2,898 in 2000 to 4,492 in 2008. According to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, there were just three abortions in Omaha in 2009. With the new Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in town and the new management, expect those numbers to jump in the coming years.

Please send all of your comments to daveandrusko@gmail.com. 

Part Three
Part Four
Part One