Carbondale Planned Parenthood clinic expands reproductive, gender-affirming healthcare

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — Illinois has a brand new Planned Parenthood clinic in Southern Illinois. The Carbondale health center is expected to expand access to reproductive healthcare for many people in southern states.

Planned Parenthood leaders said the Carbondale facility provides in-clinic abortion, birth control, cancer screenings and STI testing. Illinois has seen a 54% increase in abortion patients since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

"Politicians and courts are now making medical decisions for our patients and forcing them to travel so far for care," said Jennifer Welch, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Illinois.

Local advocates are also glad that this center provides gender-affirming care. Rainbow Cafe, an LGBTQ center in Carbondale, has received messages from many people looking for help and resources. Most of the messages were sent by trans and non-binary patients in states that have banned this type of healthcare.

"This is for the transman who needs a trauma-informed, life-saving pap smear that is having to drive up from the panhandle of Florida," said Rainbow Cafe Executive Director Carrie Vine. "This is for the non-binary person who needs an abortion coming from Texas."

Attorney General Kwame Raoul noted that the new clinic is close for people across Southern Illinois and a relatively easy drive for patients from Kentucky or Tennessee where abortion is banned.

"Patients from throughout the country, in particular in the south, are making their way up here because we are truly an oasis for safe reproductive healthcare," Raoul said.

Welch stressed that patients from 40 states have traveled to Illinois for essential healthcare since the Dobbs decision in 2022.

"If the Florida Supreme Court does what we fear it will do, then a whole other number of patients will be pushed farther north for care," Welch said. "So, we can anticipate seeing thousands of patients a month."

Florida is one of the latest states to potentially add an abortion rights amendment to the 2024 ballot. However, the Florida Supreme Court could block the question from voters.