The pro-life momentum across the United States has forced America’s biggest abortion provider to announce staff cuts of between 10% and 20% within weeks.
Planned Parenthood says job losses are inevitable after at least 19 states banned or significantly restricted terminations over the past year.
It follows the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the Roe v. Wade precedent on national abortion laws.
The Christian Post reports that has allowed individual states to dictate their own agenda.
Terminations are freely available in around half the 50 states, while legal challenges against bans and new restrictions are ongoing in several states.
The nation’s biggest provider says it will have to change strategy and cut staff at its national office to support local affiliates.
“Without question, the world we are living in right now — the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and the loss of abortion access, the weaponisation of our courts and attacks on our democracy, the criminalisation of providers and patients, and rampant misinformation — is vastly different than just a decade ago. Planned Parenthood must change too.” said company president and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson.
The organisation plans to increase funding for non-abortion health services in states with bans. Planned Parenthood’s services include testing for sexually transmitted infections, providing contraception, cancer screenings and gender-affirming care. The group also plans to increase funding in places where abortion remains legal in order to help serve patients who travel from states with restrictions.
To fund the changes, Ms. McGill Johnson said that 10% to 15% of the group’s 725 to 750 employees, possibly around 100, face lay-offs next month. Union officials have been told the cuts could be as high as 20%.
The Planned Parenthood chief added it will be forced to “reimagine” its national office which means: “We will be saying goodbye to some fierce and talented warriors on our staff. We don’t take this moment lightly. We deeply value the national office staff who have shown up and shown out for us in the darkest of times over the last months and years.”
Meanwhile, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America has announced it is working with Kellyanne Conway, a former adviser to President Donald Trump, to “get pro-life candidates on the offence for the 2024 election cycle.”
