Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio will close two locations Sept. 20.
The announcement follows state and federal efforts to defund the agency and stop doctors from referring patients to abortion providers.
Southwest Ohio President and CEO Kersha Deibel says the Western Hills and Springdale locations will be closing. "Let me be clear: Health center closures mean the people of Cincinnati will suffer," she says, adding that neither location offered abortions.
Planned Parenthood officials say the closures are because of state efforts to defund and cut services the clinics offer.
Patient Caroline Lembright says she didn't feel comfortable with her old health care provider, so she switched to Planned Parenthood.
"I have endometriosis, which can be very painful," she says. "Under the care of Planned Parenthood providers I felt for the first time that my care is being managed in a way that interferes less with my daily activities."
Lembright's Planned Parenthood clinic isn't being closed, but she says she will continue to fight for others.
Meanwhile, some organizations celebrated the news of the clinics closing.
"Defunding Planned Parenthood and passing the Heartbeat Bill is only the beginning," read a statement from Citizens for Community Values. "We cannot rest until every unborn child in Ohio is protected, and every woman is respected."
Planned Parenthood recently decided to remove itself from Title X. The decision came after the Trump Administration started enforcing the gag rule, which forbids doctors from referring patients to an abortion provider.
The Springdale and Western Hills locations offered services like STI (or STD) testing and treatment, birth control and cancer screenings. Five locations in the Cincinnati and Miami Valley region are still open.
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