Planned Parenthood Affiliate to Close Clinics in Iowa, Minnesota
The clinics closing in Iowa include the only Planned Parenthood facility in the state that provides abortion procedures, in Ames, home to Iowa State University. Services will be shifted and the organization will still offer medication abortions in Des Moines and medication and medical abortion services in Iowa City.
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NBC News
15 minutes ago
- NBC News
Planned Parenthood files legal challenge to protect Medicaid funding in South Carolina
A new legal challenge from Planned Parenthood seeks to preserve Medicaid payments for its health centers in South Carolina after a Supreme Court decision put the federal funding in jeopardy. On Thursday, Planned Parenthood South Atlantic filed an amended complaint in federal court challenging the constitutionality of executive orders from Republican Gov. Henry McMaster that block Medicaid reimbursements for organizations providing abortions, even though the funds are used to provide other medical care. The South Carolina clinics provide services such as contraception, cancer screenings, annual exams and testing for sexually transmitted diseases. 'This case is about Planned Parenthood's provision of essential health care services, other than abortion, to its patients in South Carolina,' the complaint states, noting that terminating the provider from Medicaid 'will have a devastating impact on its ability to provide a wide range of non-abortion health care.' The state's action is especially harmful because many counties lack OB-GYN providers, the complaint states, and some providers are reluctant to accept Medicaid due to its low reimbursement rates. 'Our government should be expanding Medicaid providers, recruiting Medicaid providers instead of kicking them out,' said Vicki Ringer, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, which serves South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. A Medicaid patient in South Carolina sued in the wake of McMaster's 2018 executive order in a case that reached the Supreme Court. In June, justices ruled that Medicaid recipients could not sue to ensure a specific provider, supporting the state's push to block Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid funding. This new battle comes as the national organization is also trying to fend off a new federal law that would ban Planned Parenthood clinics from billing Medicaid for patient care. A federal judge has temporarily blocked that provision from going into effect. But that order did not apply to state-level actions such as those in South Carolina. Three other states — Missouri, Texas and Arkansas — have already succeeded in barring Medicaid funding from the group, according to Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic filed the complaint against Eunice Medina, director of the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, which administers the state's Medicaid program. The provider is asking the court to find McMaster's executive orders unconstitutional along with state appropriation bills that single out the organization. Attorneys are also asking the court to allow Planned Parenthood to keep receiving Medicaid payments as the case proceeds. Neither Medina nor McMaster could immediately be reached for comment. McMaster previously praised the Supreme Court's ruling, saying his administration 'took a stand to protect the sanctity of life and defend South Carolina's authority and values.' Planned Parenthood has two clinics in the state, in Charleston and Columbia. Although they provide abortions in South Carolina, with rare exception Medicaid funds can't legally be used for the procedure, which is only legal in the state in the first six weeks of pregnancy, in certain medical emergencies and in cases of rape and incest. Last year, the organization said its South Carolina clinics saw almost 400 Medicaid patients, providing a range of health care services. The complaint warns that Medicaid patients may forgo care if Planned Parenthood is forced to turn away patients in a state that already struggles with dismal health outcomes, including a high maternal mortality rate. 'For women in South Carolina, public health care is a matter of life or death,' the filing states. Apart from the harm to patients, advocates argue, allowing funds to be restricted for providers based on their support for abortion rights opens the door for politicians to cut off funding based on other services a provider might offer, such as gender-affirming care. 'We all deserve the dignity of being able to pick our doctor,' Ringer said, 'and not be denied the choice of a doctor for a political agenda.'
New York Times
15 minutes ago
- New York Times
Trump Budget Office Is Withholding H.I.V. Funds That Congress Appropriated
The Trump administration is ignoring a directive from Congress and refusing to fully fund a landmark H.I.V. program that is widely credited with saving millions of lives over the past two decades. The Office of Management and Budget, headed by Russell T. Vought, has apportioned only $2.9 billion of $6 billion appropriated by Congress for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief in the 2025 fiscal year spending bill, according to budget documents and members of the program's staff. PEPFAR, as the program is known, was created in 2003, during the George W. Bush administration, to provide funding for H.I.V. prevention and treatment to low-income countries. It has long enjoyed broad bipartisan support and is often cited as the most effective public health campaign ever, credited with saving an estimated 26 million lives. In July, the Trump administration withdrew a proposed $400 million rescission from PEPFAR's budget in the face of bipartisan Senate opposition. But that fight was a distraction, according to staff members who work on the program, because, they said, they have repeatedly been told by Mr. Vought's budget office that the program would be receiving only about half of the $6 billion appropriated by Congress for the 2025 fiscal year, even with that $400 million restored. That cut is visible in budget documents that appear on a federal website tracking the activity of the White House Office of Management and Budget. The Trump administration took that website offline in January, but it was restored late last week after a court order. Whether the executive branch can withhold money appropriated by Congress has been a focus of a number of legal battles since the President Trump took office vowing to slash government spending and terminate many foreign aid programs. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Study finds link between metabolic syndrome, Parkinson's disease
Folks with metabolic syndrome have up to a 40% higher risk of developing Parkinson's disease, a new study says. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of health problems that include excess belly fat, high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar and abnormal cholesterol levels. It's already known to increase people's risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. And now researchers have found an association between metabolic syndrome and Parkinson's, a degenerative nerve disease that primarily affects motor skills, according to findings published Wednesday in the journal Neurology. "Parkinson's disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder among older adults after Alzheimer's disease, and metabolic syndrome affects an estimated 1 in 4 adults and is highly modifiable," researcher Weili Xu, a professor in geriatric epidemiology at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, said in a news release. "Our findings suggest that metabolic syndrome may be a modifiable risk factor for Parkinson's disease," Xu said. For the study, researchers analyzed data for more than 467,000 participants in the UK Biobank, a large-scale health research project in the United Kingdom. Nearly 2 of 5 people (38%) had metabolic syndrome. Participants were followed for a median of 15 years, during which more than 3,200 developed Parkinson's disease. Median means half were followed longer, half for a shorter time. People with metabolic syndrome were about 40% more likely to develop Parkinson's than those without the syndrome, results show. Researchers also pooled their research with data gathered in eight previous studies, creating a group of nearly 25 million people with more than 98,500 cases of Parkinson's. In that meta-analysis, the team found a 29% increased risk of Parkinson's among people with metabolic syndrome. "We also found a higher risk of Parkinson's disease for people with both metabolic syndrome and a genetic susceptibility for Parkinson's disease," Xu said. "This suggests that maintaining metabolic health may be especially important for people who have genes that increase their risk for Parkinson's disease." Parkinson's occurs when the body's ability to produce the neurochemical dopamine is damaged or destroyed. A lack of dopamine causes the movement problems associated with the disease. Researchers said the health problems associated with metabolic syndrome might impair dopamine production in the body. High blood pressure and high cholesterol also might damage the tiny blood vessels in the brain, contributing to Parkinson's. Researchers noted that their findings could not prove a direct cause-and-effect link between metabolic syndrome and Parkinson's, only an association. "Future studies are needed to see whether working to control metabolic syndrome could help prevent Parkinson's disease," Xu concluded. More information The American Heart Association has more on metabolic syndrome. Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved. Play Farm Merge Valley
