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Planned Parenthood of the Heartland said Thursday it will open a new health care facility in Omaha that will include abortion services.
The clinic at 3105 N. 93rd St. will be open by the end of this year, officials said.
Neither of Omaha’s existing Planned Parenthood locations provides abortion services. One of them will be merged with the new clinic, a spokeswoman said.
Jill June, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, said Friday: "I anticipate that we will provide a full range of reproductive health services at that clinic, including medication and surgical abortion."
The alternative to surgical abortions is the abortion pill, often called RU 486, said Susan Allen, a spokeswoman for the Heartland affiliate. RU 486’s brand name is Mifeprex. It’s a pill used in the first 49 days of a pregnancy.
The new facility also will provide cancer screenings, annual exams, birth control and adoption referrals.
"Expanding access to health care is of critical importance in our society at this time," June said in a statement.
"This new facility in Omaha will allow us to expand services to the women of Omaha, while consolidating existing facilities and staff."
Julie Schmit-Albin, executive director of Nebraska Right to Life, said she was not surprised by the decision to open a new clinic in Omaha.
"This isn’t the only state where this is happening," Schmit-Albin said.
The announcement comes less than a year after financial constraints led to a merger between Planned Parenthood affiliates in Omaha and Des Moines.
The merger resulted in the consolidation of the group’s administrative offices in Des Moines.
The northwest Omaha facility will become the third Planned Parenthood clinic in the region to offer abortion services — the others are in Lincoln and Council Bluffs.
The Lincoln clinic performs surgical abortions, but the Council Bluffs facility does not, Allen said.
Contact the writer:
444-1068, johnny.perez@owh.coms
World-Herald staff writer Rick Ruggles contributed to this report.
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