Missouri Planned Parenthood announces plans for mobile abortion clinic in southern Illinois
In the next couple weeks, Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri will launch a mobile clinic in southern Illinois: A 37-foot-long RV with a waiting room, a standard lab and exam rooms. The clinic will offer medication abortions, and hopes to later offer abortion procedures.
The mobile unit is the first of its kind for Planned Parenthood in the nation, according to Yamelsie Rodriguez, president and CEO of PPSLRSWMO.
The mobile clinic plans to be operational by the end of 2022 and Planned Parenthood will analyze patient travel patterns along the southern Illinois border to determine the routes the RV will take.
In the 100 days since the Supreme Court of the United State's decision to repeal Roe v. Wade, Planned Parenthood's Fairview Heights center has seen a 340% increase in people from outside Missouri and Illinois seeking abortion services and wait times for abortion services has increased from four days to two and a half weeks, according to the press release.
"One day we will bring back abortion care to rural Missouri," Rodriguez said.
On June 24, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt signed an opinion, which activated the "trigger law" banning abortion in the state.
Rolla Planned Parenthood medical center will open in November
People in Rolla and its surrounding areas will be able to access reproductive health services, including birth control and vasectomies, as soon as Nov. 1, said Dr. Colleen McNicholas, chief medical officer for PPSLRSWMO.
Patients can make an appointment at 1-800-230-7526.
The Rolla Planned Parenthood will be PPSLRSWMO’s eighth health center in Missouri where patients can access the full spectrum of preventive care including birth control, STI testing and treatment, annual exams, vasectomies, and gender-affirming care," according to the Planned Parenthood press release.
While 34% of Missouri’s total population lives in rural areas, only 21% of available healthcare providers deliver services to rural Missourians, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services' 2020 biennial report. More health care providers — 79% — practice in urban areas. Of Missouri's 115 counties, 98 are considered rural.
"Rural communities across Missouri are too often overlooked and face" difficulties in obtaining reproductive care and services like STI screening, Rodriguez said.
The clinic will help "male-bodied patients take a role in family planning," McNicholas said, including vasectomy procedures.
According to the press release, vasectomy patients have increased by more than 240% in the last 100 days.
Susan Szuch is the health and public policy reporter for the Springfield News-Leader. Follow her on Twitter @szuchsm. Story idea? Email her at sszuch@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Missouri Planned Parenthood announces mobile clinic in Illinois
