PPINK Applauds Defeat of Abortion Restrictions in St. Joseph County

(Indianapolis, Ind.) –  Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky (PPINK) today applauded the St. Joseph County Council’s move to defeat ordinance 69:14, which would have created additional restrictions for physicians providing abortions in St. Joseph County.

“This ordinance would have done nothing to improve the health and safety of women in St. Joseph County—instead, it would have created barriers for local women seeking safe, legal abortions,” said PPINK Vice President for Public Policy Patti Stauffer.

 “With this ordinance behind us, we hope we can work together to ensure women and men in St. Joseph County and beyond have access to a full range of reproductive health care. That includes providing comprehensive sex education, which will reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and, therefore, the number of abortions.”

PPINK has one health center in St. Joseph County—at 3005 Grape Road in Mishawaka—which provides preventive reproductive health care to more than 3,000 patients annually.

“We are thankful to the many residents of St. Joseph County, including medical and academic professionals, who were vocal in their opposition to this harmful ordinance,” Stauffer continued. “As the County Board of Health pointed out, there is no public health value, nor support from the medical community, including the medical professionals on that Board, for a county ordinance requiring abortion providers to have hospital admitting privileges.”

Laws such as these have been challenged in court across the United States and have been overturned as unconstitutional in some cases, including in federal district court in Alabama, and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Mississippi.

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Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky (PPINK) provides high-quality health care to nearly 67,000 men and women each year at our health centers across two states. Our centers are staffed by skilled clinicians and highly trained health care professionals. 93% of our nonprofit’s services are preventive in nature and include Pap tests, breast and testicular cancer screenings, birth control, STD testing and treatment, and annual wellness exams. Through the Sara and Albert Reuben Partners in Health Education initiative, PPINK also provides sexuality and reproductive health education programs, equipping people to make responsible decisions so that families thrive in Indiana and Kentucky.

PPINK’s doors are open to all who need care and we provide our services in a confidential, compassionate and non-judgmental manner. We accept Medicaid and insurance.