For the past 30 years, Planned Parenthood’s Austin Health Center has been providing free birth control, health exams, ultrasounds, other prenatal care, treatment for sexually transmitted diseases and counseling, among other services, all under one roof. (Photo by Igor Studenkov/for Chronicle Media)

On the West Side of Chicago, where pharmacies and clinics are scarce and many hospitals struggle to stay afloat, any health care provider is a precious resource.

While Planned Parenthood clinics are best known for providing abortions, they offer a wide range of health services for every stage of pregnancy and beyond. These services are especially important in predominantly Black communities like Austin. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Black women are more likely to die while pregnant and giving birth than white and Hispanic women.

For the past 30 years, Planned Parenthood’s Austin Health Center has been providing free birth control, health exams, ultrasounds, other prenatal care, treatment for sexually transmitted diseases and counseling, among other services, all under one roof.

They also offer services that are less directly connected to pregnancy, such as cancer screenings and gender-affirming care. According to Vedette Farley, the clinic’s manager, their most popular service is birth control, but they do get plenty of women seeking abortions, not just from Chicago, but from other parts of Illinois, and beyond.

The clinic doesn’t get anti-abortion protesters who are a common site at the clinics closer to downtown, and Farley said that, in the 26 years she worked there, she hasn’t seen any significant issues. But Planned Parenthood of Illinois, the entity that operates the state’s clinics, acknowledges that reaching West Siders who might need their services most requires extra effort. Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger supported eugenics, which led to accusations of racism — the history that employees try to confront head on.

According to the Chicago Department of Public Health medical service locator, Austin has three health care providers that offer reproductive and sexual health services in general. Look at the other West Side majority-Black communities, West Garfield Park and East Garfield Park neighborhoods have none and North Lawndale has four. Austin has five pharmacies; North Lawndale has three and the Garfield Parks have none.

According to CDC, as of 2021, the maternal mortality rate for non-Hispanic Black women was 69.9 per 10,000 live births, 2.6 times the rate for non-Hispanic white women — 26.6 per 10,000 live births. Hispanic women of all races was 28 deaths per.

The Austin Health Center is located less than a block east of the intersection of Austin Boulevard, which forms the Chicago/Oak Park border, and Chicago Avenue, a major commercial corridor. Farley said that the clinic has been at this location since 2004 — before that, they were located further east.

The clinic has four exam rooms and one room for counseling services. Bags with free condoms are stacked on a small table at the check-in desk — Farley said that anyone who comes in needs only to show a picture ID to claim one. The clinic accepts private insurance and Medicaid, and it offers income-based sliding scale payments for uninsured patients. Farley said that, if the patients qualify for Medicaid, the staff will help them apply.

For abortions in particular, she said, patients come not just from Chicago and Oak Park, but “from all over Illinois” and “38 different states.” Farley said that, since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade decision, the demand has more than doubled.

Mariana Thomas heads Planned Parenthood of Illinois’ outreach to Black communities. She said that she attended events across Chicago, and questions about Planned Parenthood’s history inevitably come up.

While there is no proof that Sanger was racist, she was a proponent of eugenics. In the 1948 article, she argued that Black mothers “in poor physical condition” should be encouraged to use contraception to reduce the risk of stillbirths and health complications. All this history led to rumors that Planned Parenthood was using contraception and abortions as the way to reduce Black population.

“It’s no secret that Planned Parenthood has historically had a tense relationship with the Black community,” Thomas said. “I had people come up and say — you work with Planned Parenthood, don’t they kill Black babies?”

In situations like this, she said, they talk calmly and candidly about history and try to dispel misconceptions. The key, Thomas said, is to approach people without judgment.

“I always want to start at the place of where it is, or was, and where we want to go,” she said, adding that she also talks about non-abortion services Planned Parenthood offers.

While what she may not always persuade the people she talks to, Thomas said, it was important to have those conversations.

“There are people who may appreciate receiving the information, but they may not be open to changing their opinion at the time,” she said. “A lot of the time, it’s about — I understand where they come from, I understand their hesitancy, I’m just providing a listening ear and an understanding ear. I’m not judging them and hopefully they will not be judging me.”

Farley said that she is keenly aware of the disparities in communities like Austin. She

touted Bridges to Prenatal Care, an initiative launched by Planned Parenthood of Illinois, to address disparities in the health for Black mothers. Any patient that comes through any Illinois clinics’ door will be connected to other prenatal care providers that can provide services that clinics can’t — including birthing classes, help with access to food and putting them in touch with doulas.

“It’s one of the most important services we provide,” Farley said.

She said that she thought the clinic played an important role in the community.

“What I love most is we’ve been able to provide high-quality, affordable care to the community,” Farley said. “I’m proud of that, and that’s what’s appreciated by all of our patients.”