Planned Parenthood’s clinic in Juneau has closed due to what the organization calls a need to consolidate resources in the region to ensure ongoing operations, which comes as the national nonprofit organization is in the crosshairs of the incoming Trump administration and Republican-led Congress.
The Juneau location, amidst a cluster of healthcare entities near Bartlett Regional Hospital, was already temporarily closed for building repairs, according to an email sent to patients. But it notes “unfortunately we have made the difficult decision to keep the health center permanently closed.”
“This decision was not made lightly and reflects a careful evaluation of patient needs, access to care in Alaska, and the challenges facing sexual and reproductive health care today,” the message states. “Consolidating resources will allow us to sustain Planned Parenthood’s mission and protect care access across the region for years to come.”
Rising healthcare costs and “unrelenting attacks on our organization” were factors involved in the closure of the Juneau location, said Rebecca Gibron, CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai‘i, Alaska, Indiana and Kentucky, in a prepared statement.
“Like providers throughout the country, we are facing a volatile health care environment with rapidly growing costs to provide care. On top of these challenges, Planned Parenthood Great Northwest Hawai’i, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky faces unrelenting attacks on our organization and the right to provide basic health care like abortion and gender-affirming care,” she said. “The difficult decisions we’re making are about ensuring that we can continue to provide essential services across our six states. Our mission remains clear: to provide compassionate, accessible care for all. With the continued support of our community, we will overcome today’s challenges so that Planned Parenthood is here for generations to come.”
Planned Parenthood has long faced nationwide opposition due to its providing of abortion services, although the majority of its patients receive other care ranging from contraception to cancer screenings. Alix Curtain, a former clinician at the Juneau Planned Parenthood who now owns the nearby Juneau Women’s Health clinic that opened in the fall of 2023, said Thursday the closure means the closest abortion services for people in Southeast Alaska is Anchorage.
But she said she doesn’t believe the national political climate was the primary factor in the closing of Juneau’s Planned Parenthood.
“I know it’s really coincidental timing, but I don’t think it had much to do with it,” she said. “It might have had a little bit of an effect on their decision to close, but my guess is it had to do more with the location flooding and having to redo the building.”
The email from Planned Parenthood lists a few other facilities – including Curtain’s clinic — for women seeking family related healthcare in Juneau, as well as abortion care resources outside Juneau. Not listed is the Juneau Pregnancy Resource Center, where services such as pregnancy tests and maternity supplies are available, which describes itself as “non-profit, faith-based, and life-affirming.”
Such centers nationwide have been criticized by medical officials for reasons including not having licensed medical staff, offering misinformation about the safety of abortions and offering religion-motivated “counseling.” Curtain said the services at Juneau’s pregnancy center “are not comparable” to the medical care offered at Planned Parenthood and other family clinics.
Attempts by the Empire to contact officials at the Juneau Pregnancy Resource Center were unsuccessful Thursday, one of three days each week the center is closed.
In addition to clinics recommended by Planned Parenthood, both of the major medical facilities — Bartlett Regional Hospital and SEARHC — offer some services such as testing for sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy care. Both programs also have financial aid available on a sliding scale basis for qualifying individuals based on their income.
Curtain said she believes there are enough facilities still open in Juneau to accommodate most non-abortion healthcare needs for women seeking maternity and related care, although options such as sliding scale fees and Medicaid coverage for people with lower incomes aren’t available at all of them. She said she also believes the issue of abortion availability in Juneau will be revisited.
“I think that there are enough concerned providers in town about abortion access that I think there will be something that’s going to get worked out,” she said. “I don’t know who or when, but I do believe that we will have abortion access again.”
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire or (907) 957-2306.
