Planned Parenthood expands abortion access in Grand Rapids after repeal of law

A Grand Rapids Planned Parenthood clinic will begin offering surgical abortions in what appears to be the first location in Michigan to do so as a result of the recent repeal of a state law that had restricted such procedures to freestanding surgical centers.

In a statement Wednesday, Planned Parenthood of Michigan said the expanded services are meant to accommodate unmet demand in west Michigan after Grand Rapids' sole surgical abortion provider shut down in August and as a Kalamazoo Planned Parenthood location has experienced an influx of out-of-state patients.

Among the influx in patients, the group said, are women from Indiana, where abortion is illegal with a few narrow exceptions.

Because of delays in Kalamazoo and the closure of the Grand Rapids clinic, some west Michigan residents have had "to travel to southeast Michigan or Chicago for procedural abortions," Planned Parenthood said.

“My patients deserve the freedom to access the full spectrum of abortion care they need without having to travel to another state or even city, and that’s why we’re proud to add procedural abortion as an option right here in Grand Rapids,” Planned Parenthood of Michigan's chief medical operating officer Dr. Sarah Wallett said in a statement.

Surgical abortions are in-clinic procedures that include aspiration abortion that uses suction to empty the uterus or dilation and evacuation (D&E), which combines suction and medical tools to terminate a pregnancy, according to Planned Parenthood's website. An aspiration abortion is used up until 14-16 weeks of pregnancy, while a D&E is used 16 weeks or more after a woman's last period.

Right to Life of Michigan in a Wednesday statement said Grand Rapids women should know that surgical abortions are only possible at the new clinic because of the removal of "long-standing, common-sense health and safety regulations."

"Women are savvy enough to see the writing on the wall, but there is no question that women are now at even greater risk when undergoing an abortion," said Genevieve Marnon, legislative director for Right to Life of Michigan.

Planned Parenthood's Irwin/Martin Health Center in Grand Rapids has previously offered medication abortion to terminate a pregnancy up to 11 weeks, while the Heritage Clinic for Women provided later term surgical abortions. But the Heritage Clinic for Women shut down "unexpectedly" in August.

The new services offered by the Grand Rapids clinic include aspiration abortions for pregnancies up to 13 weeks and six days, said Erica Shekell, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of Michigan. The clinic hopes to expand to D&E abortions soon.

In Planned Parenthood's Michigan clinics already offering surgical abortions — Flint, Kalamazoo and Ann Arbor — surgical abortions make up about 60% of the abortions performed, Shekell said. Across Planned Parenthood's 14 Michigan health centers, that averages out to about 30% of the abortions performed.

More:It's still legal, but this kind of abortion is harder to get in Michigan

Until Feb. 13, Michigan law had prohibited surgical abortions from being performed in any location that wasn't licensed as a freestanding surgical center. Among the building code standards that needed to be met to qualify as a freestanding surgical center were certain hallway widths, ceiling heights or HVAC systems.

But the Democratic-led Michigan Legislature and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer last year repealed the requirement, arguing it put unnecessary and onerous building code requirements on abortion clinics. Opponents of the law had deemed it a "TRAP law," an acronym for laws that place targeted restrictions on abortion providers.

Supporters of the licensing rules have long argued the surgical center standards protected the health and safety of women seeking an abortion.

The repeal of the law, one of the key elements of the Reproductive Health Act, came a little more than a year after Michigan voters passed Proposal 3 with 57% support in November 2022.

The proposal, called the Reproductive Freedom for All initiative, enshrined the right to abortion in the state constitution after the U.S. Supreme Court earlier that year overturned Roe v. Wade that ensured abortion rights at the federal level. Sponsors of the Reproductive Health Act said their bills simply implemented Proposal 3 in state law.

Opponents argued the legislative changes removed common-sense protections for women in order to support the business pursuits of Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry at large.

eleblanc@detroitnews.com