Michigan Planned Parenthood closures fuel ongoing debate

In 2021, one in 10 women of reproductive age on Medicaid relied Planned Parenthood clinics for family planning, according to KFF. (jetcityimage/Adobe Stock)

Broadcast version by Chrystal Blair for Michigan News Connection reporting for the Michigan Independent-Public News Service Collaboration

In the spring of 2025, Planned Parenthood closed its clinics in Jackson, Petoskey, and Marquette, Michigan. The closures of the Marquette and Petoskey clinics left patients who live in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and much of Northern Michigan with a drive of over 100 miles to the next closest clinic, which is nearly five hours away in Traverse City.

The clinic closures are due in large part to a measure in the budget law signed by President Donald Trump in July 2025 that prohibits federal funding of any entity that provides abortions except in cases of rape, incest, or the risk of injury or death to the pregnant woman.

Since 1977, the Hyde Amendment has barred federal funding for abortions, except in cases of rape, incest, or life-threatening medical emergencies, through provisions attached to annual spending bills. Before Trump signed the budget law, Planned Parenthood received federal funding only for non-abortion care.

Paula Thornton Greear, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Michigan, told the Michigan Independent that the clinics may have closed, but the organization hasn’t abandoned its patients. “We expanded our telehealth to be seven days a week, and we expanded the hours,” Thornton Greear explained, noting that there’s been a 20% increase in patients using telehealth since the additional hours were added.

Cuts in federal funding of clinics that provide abortions effectively end the Medicaid reimbursements that pay providers for the costs of an array of reproductive health care services for patients who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford them. Thornton Greear said the move to close the clinics was a financial decision to reallocate funds.

“I’m not saying that there’s not a need for brick-and-mortar health centers — there is. But the mix must change for a number of reasons, primarily because of this attack from the presidential administration and the attack on our funding, and the very real impact that that is having, as well because of the changing health care delivery system and how people are accessing care,” she said.

Planned Parenthood clinic services, which are funded in part by the federal Title X program, include preventive screenings for cervical and breast cancer and sexually transmitted infections; prenatal and postpartum care; and education about contraception. Title X was enacted in 1970 and provides grants for family planning and preventive health care services for low-income communities.

Planned Parenthood reported that its clinics saw over 2 million patients between 2022 and 2023. According to KFF, in 2021, one in 10 women of reproductive age covered by Medicaid received family planning services from those clinics.

“When you eliminate Medicaid reimbursements for Planned Parenthood, for reproductive health care, you’re cutting off the patients who need us most,” Thornton Greear said.

“Ultimately, this is about access to care, and they have put up barriers so that people can’t get that access. I’m very passionate about this because it means higher costs, fewer choices, and more red tape for people to get health care, especially for people with low income,” she said.

In December, a federal appeals court ruled in favor of the Trump administration’s cuts to Medicaid coverage. The decision was made in three separate lawsuits, the Associated Press reported. Two were filed in Massachusetts by 21 states, the District of Columbia, and Planned Parenthood, while a third was brought in Maine by a coalition of medical clinics.

Thornton Greear said: “One of the things that I always want to lift up are two words: Elections matter. This funding landscape that we’re navigating is a direct result of the choices made by elected officials.

“Patients in Marquette, patients in Jackson, patients in Petoskey, patients in countless communities across this country didn’t vote to lose their health care center, but policy decisions at the federal level, made by people who will never meet the patients they affect, created this reality. And it’s cause and effect. When you elect leaders who campaign on defunding Planned Parenthood, this is what happens. Health centers close, patients lose access, and the people with the fewest resources bear the greatest burden. And we’re going to fight against it,” she said.

Rebekah Sager wrote this article for the Michigan Independent .

Michigan Planned Parenthood closures fuel ongoing debate

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