(Radio Iowa) – Planned Parenthood will close its Iowa City clinic on July 31st — leaving the Planned Parenthood clinic in Des Moines as the organization’s only location in Iowa. Ruth Richardson, president and C-E-O of Planned Parenthood of North Central States, says the organization is restructuring due to federal funding cuts and the 2024 Iowa law that prohibits most abortions after the sixth week of a pregnancy.
“We are not the cause of these conditions, but we are responsible for how we respond,” Richardson said. “We will continue to adapt, continue to serve and continue to fight to ensure people can get the care they need no matter what.” Four Planned Parenthood clinics closed last year in Ames, Cedar Rapids, Sioux City and Urbandale. Tomorrow (Wednesday), a state law takes effect that requires Iowans seeking medication for an abortion to receive the pills in-person from a doctor.
Maggie DeWitte, a executive director of Pulse Life Advocates, was a leading advocate for the new law. “We don’t need abortion in our state and so I am very happy and I feel very blessed that I live in this state because we’re just one step closer to eliminating abortion here in Iowa,” DeWitte says.
DeWitte says it’s time for the federal government to prevent out-of-state doctors from prescribing abortion pills and mailing the drugs to women in Iowa and other states where abortion restrictions are in effect.
