MINNEAPOLIS – Thanks to a huge donation made by an anonymous couple, Planned Parenthood will soon be expanding its facilities in and around the Twin Cities.
The $6.5 million donation will go towards Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota’s (PPMNS) facilities expansion plan, scheduled to last three years.
“This couple has been engaged with Planned Parenthood on so many levels over the past several years,” President and CEO of PPMNS Sarah Stoesz, said in a press release. “They have supported our work, provided critically important advice and counsel and are fierce defenders of making sure women get the health care they need, no matter what.”
The new constructions will include a new facility on the site of its existing Uptown clinic. Eighteen other clinics will also be updated in order to have them “reflect the most modern standards in health care.” PPMNS are also exploring the possibility of building new clinics in communities where Planned Parenthood does not currently have a presence.
“[Planned Parenthood] is planning to raise $20 million for this expansion plan, but it receives $15 million a year from the federal government,” Bill Poehler, Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life’s communications director told Alpha News. “They’ve been speaking out against efforts to defund the abortion industry at the federal level, and yet they’ve proven they can raise as much money as they need. This gift is more indication that they don’t need more taxpayer dollars at the state or federal level.”
Alpha News previously reported that the latest abortion report from the Minnesota Department of Health showed that Planned Parenthood performed 5,629 abortions in Minnesota over the course of 2016. That is an 11.5 percent increase from the 5,048 performed in 2015. The organization’s abortion total has been increasing steadily since 1998 when the Minnesota Department of Health first started preparing legislative reports on abortion totals in the state.
That total also accounted for 56.5 percent of all abortions performed in Minnesota in 2016, a record high for PPMNS.
“I think it will result in more abortions because those facilities around the state are feeder clinics to their abortion clinic in St. Paul,” Poehler said. “Obviously they’re doing more abortions than anyone and they have more locations than anyone. There are five abortion providers in the state and Planned Parenthood is the largest and they’re the only one with more than one location.”
