Planned Parenthood boosts care access in Kentucky amid rising political fears

KENTUCKY (FOX 56) — Kentucky’s Planned Parenthood seeks to expand sexual and reproductive healthcare throughout the state after launching a virtual health center this week.

This comes amid rising political fears as Kentucky lawmakers work to enact a bill planned parenthood said could put pregnant patients at risk.

Planned Parenthood patients in Kentucky now have the opportunity to receive health care from the comfort of their homes.

“It’s convenient,” said Rebecca Gibron, CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana, and Kentucky. “It’s providing enhanced access. It’s confidential. It’s quick. We are offering services six days a week.”

Gibron said patients will have access to trusted providers through video calls to discuss birth control, emergency contraception, pregnancy planning, and more.

She says this is a crucial opportunity for many Kentuckians, noting that more than half the state’s rural hospitals have eliminated labor and delivery services, and 76 out of 120 counties do not have an OBGYN.

“There’s opportunity here for patients to access a health care provider, to have their questions asked, and to get consultation about whether they need an in-clinic visit,” said Gibron. “And we can help provide referral sources for our patients where we may not have a physical health center. And, of course, if we can help them through the virtual health tool, we’re going to do that.”

Planned Parenthood’s Virtual Health Center in Kentucky came days after a bill with abortion-related language cleared the state senate and house.

An amendment added to HB90 presents exceptions for doctors to take action in life-or-death situations as an emergency intervention for sepsis and hemorrhaging while keeping the state’s abortion ban intact.

If signed into law, Planned Parenthood leaders said this would put Kentuckians’ lives in more danger by forcing pregnant patients to suffer through a crisis before receiving care.

“It’s very dangerous,” said Gibron. “And, you know, it’s intentional, right? It’s intentional to do everything that they can to ensure that a woman does not have agency over her own body and the ability to make her own health care decisions with her provider of health care.”

Planned Parenthood is urging Governor Andy Beshear to veto HB90. We reached out to the bill’s sponsor and several pro-life organizations for a response but did not hear back.

To learn more about Planned Parenthood’s Virtual Health Center, click here.