Manhattan Planned Parenthood clinic to stop offering abortions after 20 weeks as centers plan to shutter across state

The changes at the Manhattan Health Center will begin on September 3

The only Planned Parenthood clinic in Manhattan announced it would no longer be performing abortions after 20 weeks due to financial issues, according to a report.

The clinic will temporarily stop providing abortions after 20 weeks and will halt “deep sedation” for patients during intrauterine devices (IUD) insertion and surgical abortions, the nonprofit’s state chapter spokesperson told The Independent in a statement. The changes, first reported by The City, will begin on September 3.

Planned Parenthood of Greater New York “currently uses a contracted anesthesia vendor for the Manhattan Health Center – the only such vendor we use across our health centers in New York State.” The nonprofit covers 100 per cent of the vendors contract costs “and is unable to do so any longer,” the spokesperson continued.

The Manhattan Health Center, located downtown on Bleecker Street, is the only Planned Parenthood clinic in the city to offer the procedure up to 20 weeks, according to Abortion Finder. However, several other clinics in the city and state still offer the procedure up to that benchmark.

“We are thankfully one of numerous abortion providers in NYC,” the spokesperson said. “We are fortunate to be part of an ecosystem of local care options.”

Less than 2 per cent of all of the abortions performed at the Planned Parenthood Greater New York’s clinics occur after 20 weeks, a spokesperson told the New York Times. Planned Parenthood also plans to close four clinics across the state, the outlet reported.

“The gestational limit of 19 weeks and 6 days is temporary. Patients who need abortion later in pregnancy are among the most vulnerable among the communities we serve,” the statement said, adding that Planned Parenthood of Greater New York was “heartbroken” by the change.

In the state, abortion is legal for up to 24 weeks of pregnancy. After that point, there are exceptions to obtaining the procedure if the fetus is not viable or the patient’s life, physical health, or mental health is at risk.

Manhattan’s only Planned Parenthood clinic will stop providing abortions after 20 weeks starting in September (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

For IUD insertions, patients will still be able to receive moderate sedations and other pain management, the spokesperson said.

The state’s chapter cited rising Medicaid reimbursement rates for the temporary reduction in services.:“Despite both the Senate and Assembly indicating support for increasing Medicaid reimbursement rates for medication abortion, they ultimately failed to include it in the budget. This is deeply disappointing and is part of a more widespread health care reimbursement problem. PPGNY is not in this alone.” The spokesperson continued: “The abortion care ecosystem in New York is facing financial distress.”

The news comes two years after the Dobbs decision, in which the Supreme Court overturned the right to abortion, complicating the abortion landscape across the country.

Since the landmark decision, 14 states have enacted total abortion bans. Dozens of other states have put some bans in place. For patients, these state bans have led to financial and medical barriers to access reproductive health care. For providers, the bans’ vague language has created “chaos and confusion” for how to treat patients.

Since Roe was overturned, the number of reproductive-age women who reported trying to end pregnancies by themselves rose from 2.4 per cent to 3.3 per cent, before and after the court’s June 2022 decision, research shows.

In 2023, more than 170,000 patients traveled to obtain abortion care, the New York Times reported in June. In 2023, nearly 6,000 patients traveled to New York for the procedure, according to data from the Guttmacher Institute.