Urgent care clinics are emerging as an unexpected solution to abortion care gaps in rural areas. When Planned Parenthood in Marquette, Michigan closed last spring, an urgent care clinic began providing medication abortions to fill the access void. Roughly 1,100 patients relied on the Planned Parenthood clinic each year for cancer screenings, IUD insertions, and medication abortions. The closure left a 500-mile stretch with no in-person abortion access.
At least 38 abortion clinics shut down last year in states where they’re still legal, according to data collected by I Need an A, a project supported by nonprofits that helps people find abortion options. Even states that recently passed constitutional amendments protecting abortion rights, such as Michigan, have had clinics close. As rural hospitals shutter labor and delivery units, patients are losing access to pregnancy care. Medication abortion by mail has become increasingly available—telehealth abortions went from 5% of all abortions provided to 25% by the end of 2024, according to #WeCount, a national reporting project that tracks shifts in abortion volume.
The Marquette Medical Urgent Care began offering medication abortions after community meetings identified a critical need. The clinic now provides as many as four medication abortions per week, with patients traveling from as far away as Louisiana. The clinic is on track to match the volume of abortion patients treated at the local Planned Parenthood before its closure. A local donor covered an ultrasound machine, and supporters started a nonprofit to help pay for medication and staffing costs, bringing the patient price down from about $450 to an average of about $225 on a sliding scale.
Patients at the urgent care describe preference for in-person care over telehealth. One patient noted that she chose in-person care because it “felt more secure than being treated by someone that I’ve never met, or receiving meds that were just shipped to me.” Academic medical centers are exploring offering medication abortion at their own urgent cares, though legal experts note that urgent cares would need to comply with state-specific laws and federal regulations governing abortion provision.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/abortion-providers-clinics-closing-urgent-care-michigan-upper-peninsula/