Big, Beautiful Bust
I too was instantly thrilled by this headline: Planned Parenthood announces it will close 4 clinics in Minnesota. I live in Minnesota. We are the abortion destination to thousands of women. (Which is actually a good thing. I want abortion-minded women to come to Minnesota. I’d love to talk to you!) But, are they closing abortion clinics because Trump followed through on his promise to defund Planned Parenthood? Always take the time to read the fine print friends, but if you don’t have the time, I’m happy to. Fine print is my favorite.
Here’s what I found:
PP has been nervous about Trump's bill (HR 271) that Mike Johnson and other pro-life orgs have been saying will "defund Planned Parenthood". ( PPFA receives over $700 million in federal funds every year - Annual report 2023-2024.)
As a result, in the press, PP has been saying they're having to close clinics to "cope with funding cuts and lack of income,” when in reality, what they’re doing is doubling down on their main source of income: abortion.
So, of the 23 clinics in the North Central States, PP is closing and consolidating 8. Of the 15 that are left, 6 will provide abortions, and of the 6, FIVE of them are in Minnesota and THREE in Minneapolis. So the closing of the 4 clinics in MN will have virtually no effect on abortions in MN. They are closing and consolidating in order to direct more funds to make the abortion clinics more productive.
And here are two more pieces of bad news: The four clinics that closed in MN, Alexandria, Richfield, Bemidji, and Apple Valley - none of them provide abortions. They "provide" birth control pills, the morning after pill, pregnancy tests and "counseling", STD testing and UTI treatments.
The other, very disappointing yet very important piece of information I discovered is - the Big Beautiful Bill that passed the House last Friday, that was supposed to "defund Planned Parenthood" and that pro-life orgs like LiveAction are continuing to celebrate does nothing of the kind. If you read the (very short) portion of the bill that mentions Planned Parenthood you will discover that it is not a stripping of federal funds, but a one year moratorium of federal funds to PP and its affiliates EXCEPT IN THE CASE OF RAPE OR INCEST OR IF THE LIFE OF THE WOMAN [not "mother"] IS THREATENED.
The politicians, as usual, are playing a shell game with us, and I think President Trump has no intention of cutting off funding to this abortion giant. (Even the Hyde Amendment has exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother, so it's not entirely limiting taxpayer dollars from going to abortion.)
But what is that to all of us? We follow the LORD. Let's keep being faithful with what we've been called to do - with what's right in front of us, and continue to pray that the practice of abortion will be made illegal one day in the United States and beyond. And while we're praying and doing our day to day work, let us not have any association with darkness, but rather expose it. Stop saying you support abortion for rape and incest. Stop the ultimate cop-out that says, “I wouldn’t have an abortion myself, but I can’t tell someone else not to.” Yes, you can. Speak out against abortion or give your time or money to those that do, and maybe one day, generations from now our children's children's children will rejoice that we opposed the practice of killing living human beings before they're born, and they will maintain that fight and keep Faith in the One in Whom all things are possible.