Article by Jackie Vicksman

On October 2, 2019, Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri announced that it is planning on opening a new facility in Illinois, near the Missouri border, in order to increase access to reproductive healthcare (specifically family-planning and abortion services) for women in this region. The large facility will replace a smaller one in the region and will expand care to provide both medical and surgical abortion services. This plan comes after several restrictive abortion laws have been passed in Missouri, where state legislature officials also attempted to make abortion after eight weeks illegal. This move failed in court but other restrictions such as a 72 hour waiting period and parental consent for minors, are currently in place to reduce women’s access to abortion and abortion care services. There is currently one facility that provides abortion services in Missouri, and Planned Parenthood officials believe that this new “mega-facility” will address access issues for women living in that region.

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