A Clinic Born Out of Urgency
When Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette opened a health center in Ontario, Oregon, in 2023, leaders anticipated what many feared: Idaho’s near-total abortion ban would force patients across state lines for care.
Ontario, a farming town along the Snake River best known for cattle ranching and potato fields, lies just an hour northwest of Boise. That proximity made it the most accessible destination for Idaho residents after lawmakers in Boise passed a 2020 trigger law banning abortion in nearly all circumstances once the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Two years later, the Ontario center has become a critical health care lifeline. Between 2023 and 2024, the clinic reported a staggering 655% increase in patient visits, according to spokesperson Kristi Scdoris. Yet this lifeline now faces the possibility of collapse.
Also Read
Medicaid Funding Under Attack
The challenge comes not from dwindling demand, but from federal policy. In September, a three-judge panel allowed the Trump administration to enforce a provision of a sweeping tax and spending law that blocks reproductive health providers from receiving Medicaid reimbursements.
Federal law already prohibits the use of Medicaid funds for abortion under the Hyde Amendment, first enacted in 1977. But the new restriction goes further, effectively cutting Planned Parenthood affiliates off from reimbursements for all other services, from cancer screenings to STI testing.
In Oregon, where 70% of Planned Parenthood patients are enrolled in Medicaid, the blow is severe. Affiliates in the state depended on $17 million in Medicaid funding in 2024 alone, Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette CEO Sara Kennedy said.
“This is about basic health care,” Kennedy emphasized. “We are not hunkering down in a defensive position, trying to only defend what we currently have. We are actively looking at growing, expanding, and innovating in ways to keep our doors open.”
Ontario’s Unique Role
Unlike most Planned Parenthood locations in Oregon, where abortions account for a small percentage of services, the Ontario clinic has become the primary destination for Idahoans seeking abortion care.
In 2024, roughly 80% of Ontario’s patients were from out-of-state, primarily Idaho. Most were not enrolled in Medicaid and paid out of pocket. The overwhelming demand for abortion in Ontario reflects both the legal vacuum in Idaho and the absence of nearby alternatives.
“The majority of those visits are for abortion — and most are medication abortions rather than surgical procedures,” Kennedy explained.
If Ontario’s center were to close, the closest in-clinic abortion options would be over 300 miles away: either west to Bend, Oregon, or southeast to Salt Lake City, Utah. For many patients, that would mean a five-hour drive or more, creating new barriers to timely and safe care.
Idaho Physicians Sound Alarm
The Ontario clinic’s existence has also proven critical for Idaho health care providers.
Dr. Caitlin Gustafson, a family practice OB-GYN in Idaho who previously offered abortion services before the ban, said Planned Parenthood’s presence in Ontario relieves pressure on rural clinics and keeps abortion care safer.
“With my patient load, preventative care visits are scheduled months out,” Gustafson said. “Planned Parenthood provides flexibility for wellness exams, birth control, and screenings that I just can’t always offer.”
For younger patients, Planned Parenthood also offers a level of privacy not always available in family practices.
“Sometimes the anonymity is the point,” Gustafson explained, noting that patients may feel more comfortable seeking reproductive health services outside of family doctors’ offices.
She warned that forcing patients to travel further distances would inevitably push some toward unsafe alternatives:
“The further away the access gets, the more unsafe care becomes. If they can’t withstand the Medicaid cuts, it will be a huge loss.”
More Than Abortion
Critics often portray Planned Parenthood as primarily an abortion provider. But national and state-level data reveal a different picture.
In 2024, abortions made up only 4% of Planned Parenthood’s 9.4 million services nationwide, according to the organization’s annual report. By contrast, more than half of services focused on testing and treating sexually transmitted infections, with millions more dedicated to birth control distribution.
Kennedy stressed that Oregon’s affiliates reflect the same pattern.
“We provide more vasectomies, more STI screenings and treatments, more cervical and breast cancer screenings — and the list goes on — than any other health care provider in the state,” she said. “Ninety percent of what we do is unrelated to abortion.”
Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette currently operates nine health centers, including Ontario and Vancouver. In 2024, it provided 7,800 abortion procedures, compared with 130,000 STI screenings and 84,000 birth control cycles dispensed.
State and Federal Battles
Oregon officials are not standing still. The state has joined a multistate lawsuit challenging the federal Medicaid restriction, marking at least the third lawsuit filed against the Trump administration over attempts to block reimbursements.
Meanwhile, Oregon House Democrats announced plans to form a legislative workgroup to explore ways of supporting reproductive health providers. Policy solutions and state-level funding adjustments could appear in the 2026 legislative session.
This effort builds on earlier state action. In 2022, Oregon committed $15 million in grants to preserve access to abortion and reproductive health care, including funding for travel and lodging for patients in remote or out-of-state areas.
Sharp Divides
Opponents of abortion remain steadfast. Lois Anderson, executive director of Oregon Right to Life, condemned the legislature’s latest workgroup as taxpayer-funded support for what she described as “America’s biggest abortion corporation.”
“Planned Parenthood exists to perform abortions, and abortion is the opposite of health care,” Anderson said. “It is the destruction of innocent human life.”
Planned Parenthood leaders counter that their services are both broad and essential. Kennedy and others argue that without their clinics, countless Oregonians and Idahoans would lose access to preventative care, contraception, and lifesaving screenings.
The Stakes for Ontario and Beyond
For Ontario’s health center, the stakes could not be higher. Closure would not only eliminate one of the few legal abortion providers accessible to Idaho residents but also disrupt a wide range of preventative and reproductive services that local communities rely on.
For patients like those seen by Dr. Gustafson — whether they are seeking birth control, STI testing, or confidential reproductive care — losing Ontario’s clinic would represent not just an inconvenience but a critical gap in the health care system.
As Kennedy put it: “We are going to fight to be here for as long as we can.”
The future of Ontario’s Planned Parenthood, and others like it across the state, may hinge on whether lawmakers and courts can protect funding streams that ensure access to what providers insist is basic health care.
