Two abortion stories in Thursday's New York Times, one on a fight over Texas abortion clinics that could wind up a could wind up at the Supreme Court, the other a local story about a Planned Parenthood..."health clinic for women" opening in Queens, put on display the paper's broad and deep bias in favor of abortion.
Reporter Erik Eckholm (pictured), a reliable proponent, summed up from the pro-choice perspective the duel among the courts on the constitutionality of new abortion rules in Texas in "Texas Abortion Clinics to Reopen Despite a Future in Legal Limbo."
A day after the Supreme Court blocked a Texas law that had forced abortion clinics to close, some of the shuttered facilities prepared to reopen, pleased at the reprieve but mindful that the legal fight was far from over.
Tuesday’s order increased the chances, legal experts said, of a major face-off in the Supreme Court over a crucial question: What restrictions add up to an “undue burden” on a woman’s right to abortion?
That question was raised by two provisions in the sweeping anti-abortion measure that Texas passed last year. The law required doctors at all abortion clinics to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, which proved impossible in many smaller cities. The number of facilities providing abortions in the state fell to about 20 from 41.
How often does a liberal, pro-regulatory outlet like the Times fret over "stringent...rule" formulations that burden businesses? Only when it comes to abortion providers, apparently. Luckily Eckholm knew that all "medical experts" considered the Texas rules was bogus.
Still more stringent was a rule requiring all clinics to meet the costly building and staffing standards of ambulatory care centers. A federal appeals court on Oct. 2 allowed that provision to take effect, forcing all but eight abortion providers in Texas to close.
Together, the rules had left one in six Texas women living at least 150 miles from the nearest facility providing abortions, according to clinic operators, who argued in court that this posed intolerable burdens, especially for poor minority women in South and West Texas. The state said the measures were needed to protect patients, but medical experts called them transparent attempts to curb access to abortion.
The Times also carried a local story on abortion -- though you wouldn't know it from the paper's headline, which served to hide the actual news: The nation's largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, was setting up shop: "Health Clinic for Women Is Expanding Into Queens." (The current online headline is straightforward: "Planned Parenthood Is Expanding to Queens.")
Reporter Tatiana Schlossberg at least mentioned abortion in the first line of her story that still failed to find any local critics of Planned Parenthood coming to Queens. (Incidentally, Times reporter Eckholm, cited above, once counted the abortion group among "advocates for women's health.")
Planned Parenthood’s abortion services have made it the target of national activism and federal budget cuts. But in spite of vocal opposition elsewhere, the organization is about to expand in New York City, breaking ground Thursday on its only center in Queens.
Planned Parenthood of New York City is building a $9 million health center in the Long Island City neighborhood. About 5,400 of the organization’s 50,000 patients live in Queens, said Joan Malin, the group’s chief executive, and the new center is expected to eventually handle 17,500 each year.
Ms. Malin said her organization’s four health centers, one in each of the other boroughs, had seen a 26 percent increase in the number of patient visits since 2008.
“We talked to many of the key officials, hospitals and health workers, who uniformly said, ‘Why aren’t you here already?’ ” she said.
Schlossberg even offered directions, while avoiding the A-word:
In addition to clinical services, including contraception and breast cancer screenings, the Queens center will offer educational programs, teaming up with the Queens Public Library and several other community organizations, Ms. Malin said. The center is scheduled to open in 2015 on 45th Road, near the Court Square subway station, which is on the 7, E, F and M lines.
While there are other women’s health centers in Queens that offer abortions, the absence of a Planned Parenthood was “something that had to be corrected,” Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, Democrat of Queens, said.
“We know that we have a significant population in Queens that are uninsured or underinsured,” Mr. Van Bramer said. “And we need quality health care that is tailored to their needs.”
According to Planned Parenthood, Queens has the highest rate of uninsured women and girls in the city. Using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the city’s health department, Planned Parenthood estimates that more than half of pregnancies in Queens are unintended.
Mr. Van Bramer said he and other members of the Queens delegation on the Council were able to allocate $737,000 for the new center in the city budget.
Schlossberg didn't even tiptoe into the controversy of city (and state) funds going to a massive abortion provider, only hinting at controversy in her last paragraph.
Ms. Malin said that while city officials and health care workers backed her group, support for Planned Parenthood was “highly uneven” across the country. She added that while she was not expecting many protesters on Thursday, “we are always very careful and cautious.”
Planned Parenthood is certainly popular enough in liberal New York City. Three separate paid death notices that appeared in the Times last month requested that mourners send donations to the organization in lieu of flowers.
