Beginning today, Planned Parenthood of Indiana centers in two northern Indiana towns hit hard by recession will be providing free screenings and deep discounts on birth control.

Planned Parenthood’s "Recession Rx" campaign in Warsaw and Mishawaka will go through the end of June or until a $38,000 bequest from organization supporters, the late W. Hugh Headlee and Gabrielle Mills Headlee, runs out. The initiative will benefit those who might not be able to afford birth control and who don’t qualify for other funding programs, and it’s expected to raise the organization’s profile in those areas, officials said.

The clinics will provide free annual exams and sexually transmitted disease screenings; and one $27 Depo Provera injection per patient which lasts three months or birth control pills at $9 a pack, up to three packs per person, to those in need. The Depo Provera injection usually costs $60 and birth control is generally sold for $21 to $24.

The two clinics are in counties with higher-than-state-average unemployment rates that border Elkhart County which had the state’s highest unemployment rate at 17.8 percent in April.

Those visiting the clinics for "Recession Rx" are being asked to bring a recent pink slip or termination notice or explain their financial circumstance.

mschroeder@jg.net

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