CHICAGO — Citing a “financial shortfall,” Planned Parenthood of Illinois announced Wednesday – on the 52nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade – that it will be closing four clinics across the state, including one on Chicago’s South Side.

The health center shutdowns come as Illinois is already grappling with a surge in patients traveling here from other states for abortion care after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark decision Roe v. Wade in June 2022, ending federal abortion rights.

The number of abortion seekers coming to Illinois – long known as a haven for reproductive health access nationwide – has skyrocketed over the past few years. Illinois clinicians provided more abortions for out-of-state patients than any other state in the nation in 2023, the first full year without Roe, according to data from the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights.

Roughly 37,350 out-of-state patients traveled here for abortion care in 2023, more than triple the nearly 11,150 counted in 2020, according to estimates from the Guttmacher Institute. This was more out-of-state patients than any other state in the nation that year, including those with larger populations like California and New York, the data showed.

Many reproductive rights advocates fear abortion restrictions around the country will only intensify following President Donald Trump’s inauguration Monday.

One of the first notable changes after the new administration assumed control was the dismantling of the government website “reproductiverights.gov.” The site was no longer accessible as of Monday evening and displayed an “error” message when users tried to view it. The site was launched by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2022 to provide public information about reproductive health care and abortion access.

“We expect that the Trump administration, backed by a Republican trifecta and anti-abortion Supreme Court, will do real damage to reproductive rights both in the U.S. and globally,” said Candace Gibson, director of state policy at the Guttmacher Institute. “One of the first areas of attack we’re expecting is efforts to limit access to medication abortion — policies that would impact everyone, regardless of what state they live in.”

As for the changes coming in Illinois, one of the Planned Parenthood clinics slated for shutdown is in Englewood on Chicago’s South Side, a higher-poverty neighborhood in need of health facilities and other resources.

The other three clinics are across the state in Ottawa, Bloomington and Decatur, according to a Planned Parenthood of Illinois statement.

All of the health centers had offered medication abortions as well as other health services but did not include procedure abortions. Appointments at the clinics will end in March 2025, according to Planned Parenthood of Illinois.

The agency cited various reasons for the financial shortfall, including “rising health care costs for in-person care, increase in patient volume needing financial assistance, uncertain patient care landscape under a new national political administration and the need to create a sustainable future after the overturning of Roe v Wade.”

Planned Parenthood of Illinois officials did not immediately answer Tribune questions about the amount of the financial shortfall nor did the agency give any details in their statement.

“Illinois has seen the highest volume of abortion patients coming from other states,” the statement said. “Since Roe was overturned in 2022, Planned Parenthood of Illinois has seen a 47% increase in overall abortion care patients and an unprecedented number of out-of-state patients traveling from more than 40 other states, making up nearly a quarter of our overall abortion patients.”

Before the fall of Roe, out-of-state patients comprised roughly 3% to 5% of the patient population at Planned Parenthood of Illinois, according to the statement.

“However, that increase in patient volume, coupled with low reimbursement rates from insurers and rising costs of providing care has resulted in Planned Parenthood of Illinois needing to realign its health centers and staffing,” the statement added.

The agency will still have 13 other health centers statewide after the clinic closures. Planned Parenthood of Illinois also intends to expand appointments at its clinics in Champaign, Peoria, Springfield, Roseland and Waukegan “to meet patient demand as needed,” according to the statement.

Starting next month, Planned Parenthood of Illinois will also be offering medication abortion through the agency’s app; other services like birth control, emergency contraceptives, at-home sexually transmitted disease testing are already available on the app, according to the statement.

“Adding medication abortion to the suite of services expands access, reduces wait times at health centers and provides the right care patients need wherever they are,” the statement said.

Planned Parenthood of Illinois will also be “downsizing its administrative staff,” according to the statement, though it did not include any numbers or how many staff members would be impacted.

Matt Yonke, communications director for the Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League, said he did not mourn the closing of the clinics.

“I wonder if this might be an indication of a rocky future ahead for Planned Parenthood. They built their brand on being ‘Abortion Inc.’ in their standalone, surgical abortion facilities,” he said. “But in this new world where abortion pills are becoming easier to obtain online all the time, what market is there for a big, bulky building like the ones Planned Parenthood has been building for the last two decades?”

He added that “maybe abortion isn’t the cash cow it used to be.”

“Maybe being the nation’s largest abortion chain is a business model that’s run its course,” he said. “I, for one, won’t shed any tears if that’s the case.”

On Jan. 8, Planned Parenthood of Illinois had announced its president and CEO Jennifer Welch stepped down after seven years on the job. Planned Parenthood of Illinois chief financial officer Tonya Tucker was promoted to interim CEO.

“Patient care is and will always be our number one priority,” Tucker said in the statement about the clinic closures. “We made plans for the patient surge, however rising care costs and lower reimbursement rates from insurers is jeopardizing Planned Parenthood’s sustainability. Unfortunately, this is the reality many other Planned Parenthood affiliates are facing in the rapidly evolving health care environment. We are making the difficult decisions today so we can continue providing care tomorrow and well into the future.”

The agency’s chaotic start to 2025 comes as abortion providers across the state and country are bracing for potential attacks on reproductive health care by the Trump administration.

The newly inaugurated president has been a bit vague about his plans for reproductive rights and health care during this term: Although Trump has repeatedly taken credit for appointing several Supreme Court justices who ruled to roll back Roe v. Wade, he had said during the presidential campaign that abortion rights should be left to individual states.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty. It’s impossible to know exactly when or what will happen,” said Megan Jeyifo, executive director of the Chicago Abortion Fund, during a recent interview with the Tribune. “But we do anticipate that abortion access – and the broader spectrum of access to reproductive and sexual health care and education that leads to better outcomes for health care – is going to be under threat for the next four years.”

Despite the four clinic closures and the unknowns of a new administration, Jeyifo said she believes Illinois is still prepared to support the large influx of abortion seekers traveling here.

Ahead of Trump’s inauguration, the Chicago Abortion Fund put out a statement last week saying that although federal support for abortion access is “under threat” amid the second Trump presidency, “Illinois remains steadfast and is prepared to continue supporting abortion seekers in our state and those traveling from across the South and Midwest.”

That statement added that the Chicago Abortion Fund and various independent clinics – including Family Planning Associates in Chicago and Hope Clinic in Granite City near the Missouri border – are “prepared to meet increasing demands without delays or barriers.”

“With the support and partnership of Illinois abortion funds, advocates, elected officials and our fellow providers, we are meeting the needs of patients traveling from throughout the South and Midwest for life-changing health care,” said Dr. Allison Cowett, medical director at Family Planning Associates. “We will continue to provide abortion services, and we will continue the fight to break down barriers to abortion access today, tomorrow, and always.”

A number of new clinics have also opened in Illinois since the fall of Roe to meet the high patient need, including one in Champaign, another in Rockford and several in downstate Carbondale. Some existing clinics have also expanded their hours, facilities and added staff to handle the crush of patients.

Melissa Grant, chief operations officer of Carafem, which has a clinic in Skokie, noted that Illinois is a critical access point for abortion care in the United States post-Roe because it’s within a day’s drive of nearly a dozen states that all but ban abortion.

“It will continue to play an essential role in ensuring access to abortion care in this country in the years to come,” Grant said.

At its Skokie health center, Carafem provided abortion care to almost 20% more patients in 2023 than in 2020, she added.

“Many people are now forced to seek care in states with fewer barriers, often amidst fear and financial insecurity,” Grant said. “While Illinois serves as a safe harbor in many ways, there is still more we can do to ensure equitable, comprehensive care for all.”

Carafem also began offering abortion pills for future use, known as “advance provision,” in response to the threat of further abortion restrictions. Various local reproductive health care providers have reported a dramatic spike in requests for abortion pills, emergency contraceptive and sterilization procedures following Trump’s presidential win in November.

“We are heading into an incredibly hard time for sexual and reproductive health care access,” Sarah Garza Resnick, CEO of Personal PAC, said in a statement before Trump’s inauguration. “But in times like this, we’ve made great progress by coming together, organizing, and fighting back. ... This is no time to despair, we will fight back.”

Gov. J.B. Pritzker commemorated the Roe v. Wade anniversary Wednesday on the social media site X, saying the decision “represented a historic step for reproductive freedom.”

“On what would have been the 52nd anniversary, it reminds us that our progress cannot be taken for granted,” he added. “The fight continues — and here in Illinois, we remain ready to help those who need access to care.”

_____

©2025 Chicago Tribune. Visit chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.