Planned Parenthood of the Heartland had a teleconference Thursday to address the loss of state funding to Planned Parenthood in Iowa.

Planned Parenthood of the Heartland has served women and men of all ages since the mid-1930s in Iowa and Nebraska, according to their website. Suzanna de Baca, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, said any closures were a direct result of the Health and Human Services budget signed into law last Friday by Governor Branstad.

“Despite every effort to fight back against defunding by these extreme Iowa lawmakers who are driven by misguided beliefs and not facts about patient needs, Planned Parenthood of the Heartland is now forced to close four health centers in Iowa,” said de Baca.

Those four health centers are in Burlington, Keokuk, the Quad Cities and Sioux City. Planned Parenthood often comes under fire for its abortion care. Three of the centers did provide abortions; Keokuk did not. 

“14,676. That’s the number of patients these four health centers have served over the last three years, the number of individuals receiving letters this week notifying them their provider of choice is closing,” de Baca said.

“What we’re really losing here is patients who desperately need this care,” said Susan Allen from Planned Parenthood of the Heartland.

The number does not include those who will lose defunding due to the Iowa Family Planning waiver.

“The loss of funding from the Iowa Family Planning Waiver itself is close to $2 million,” Allen said.

The waiver provided limited Medicaid coverage for family planning–related services through the Iowa Family Planning Network (IFPN) to people of reproductive age with countable income at or below 300% percent of the federal poverty level and any woman who was receiving Medicaid when a pregnancy ended. They were eligible for reimbursement for family planning supplies, such as contraception; sexually transmitted infection testing, Pap smears and pelvic exams; drugs, supplies, or devices related to women’s health services prescribed by a health care provider; patient education and counseling.

Planned Parenthood was among a list of optional providers.

“For far too many of these vulnerable, low income and rural Iowan patients, there now may be nowhere to turn for the healthcare they need,” de Baca said.

De Baca said the only reason the patients are losing their healthcare provider due to closings is the budget Governor Branstad signed into law.

“While politicians may have abandoned women in Iowa, Planned Parenthood never will. We have been in Iowa for 83 years, and we are not going anywhere. We will continue to serve patients at eight health centers across the state. We will continue to provide education to young people and adults, and we will continue to expand our service offerings,” de Baca said in a release from Planned Parenthood of the Heartland.