MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI – After a contentious five-hour meeting Tuesday during which hundreds of people spoke for and against Planned Parenthood, the Muskegon County Board of Commissioners voted to end its lease with the healthcare organization.

Commissioners voted 6-2 to evict the healthcare provider from its space in the county’s Department of Public Health building. County officials say the health department needs the space that has been leased to Planned Parenthood for $1,500 per year.

Planned Parenthood has 90 days to move out of the health department and find another space for its healthcare clinic.

Board Vice Chairman Gary Foster and commissioners Charles Nash, Bob Scolnik, Rillastine Wilkins, I. John Snider and Zach Lahring voted to end the lease agreement. Commissioners Marcia Hovey-Wright and Ken Mahoney voted against terminating the lease. Board Chairwoman Susie Hughes was absent.

A politically-divided, standing-room-only audience of more than 200 groaned and cheered following the vote. Several of them held small rallies outside the Louis A. McMurray Conference Center, 2624 Sixth St., in Muskegon Heights, where the meeting was moved because of the large anticipated crowd.

Lahring, a Republican elected in 2018 who campaigned on ousting Planned Parenthood, said he was “very pleased” with the outcome of the vote.

“The public showed up and spoke and the commissioners voted after listening to people,” Lahring said.

He claimed sexually transmitted disease rates are escalating and that the county will take over STD services.

“They’ve left Muskegon County with the third highest STD rates in the state,” Lahring said. "The county will take over that process and Planned Parenthood will move out and preform whatever services they want elsewhere.”

The county’s Public Health department had asked commissioners to terminate the contract with Planned Parenthood so the department could reclaim the group’s clinical space at 209 E. Apple Ave.

Planned Parenthood provides physician referrals, birth control, pregnancy testing, emergency contraceptives, HIV/STD testing, as well as general women’s, men’s and LGBTQ healthcare services.

Health department officials said the space is needed to expand STD/HIV services. They would like to use the Planned Parenthood space to create a clinic with private rooms and larger workstations for nurses to administer vaccines.

A separate contract with Planned Parenthood to offer clinical services like patient referrals and access to birth control will remain unaltered, Hughes said earlier.

At present, the organization has no plans to open in another location, though county officials have said they are open to helping them find one.

Advocates and representatives from Planned Parenthood called the board’s decision “unconscionable.” The vote was actually the second taken by commissioners, who took a preliminary vote last week as the board’s human services committee to end the lease agreement.

“It’s really frustrating to think that we were not invited to speak at last week’s meeting, at this week’s county meeting and were not asked to do a work session for the commissioners,” said Jim Norton, vice president of development for Planned Parenthood. "Today we have heard misinformation and half-truths. We could have a lot of agreement if we had the proper setting to debate these issues.

“This has turned into a political circus, and it didn’t need to,” Norton said. “We should be talking about expanding health care services to the community, not shrinking them.”

Planned Parenthood has 90 days to move out of the health department building at 209 E. Apple Ave.

There’s an issue of what will happen to federal Title X funding for mandated family planning services that could disappear since Planned Parenthood is the only Title X healthcare provider in the county.

Public Health Director Kathy Moore said Muskegon County is mandated to ensure family planning services are provided. If Planned Parenthood is unable find another location to offer its services, Moore said she is confident the county could create a new family planning provider without increasing the county’s budget.

She also said she didn’t intend for her proposal to become an ideological fight.

Besides Lahring, commissioners said they have nothing against Planned Parenthood.

“We’ve done well in supporting Planned Parenthood for a long time, but health care has changed and it’s time for us to move on,” Nash said. "We will do whatever we can to support them in their transition wherever they’d like to go. I don’t think there would be any commissioner against that.

“We want our citizens to have all the services they need.”

In opposition, Hovey-Wright and Mahoney said Planned Parenthood should be given more time to ensure a smooth transition.

Before the board’s vote, hundreds of residents from within and outside Muskegon County spoke during public comment. Some read scripture and cited abortion statistics. Others held their babies or displayed pictures of their ultrasounds.

A group of women in support of Planned Parenthood wore pink, and several of them shared stories about their own health issues, abortions or sexual assaults.

Those in support of Moore’s proposal said the county should not subsidize Planned Parenthood by offering it a low-rent space in a county-owned building. Many of them said they opposed Planned Parenthood and its association with abortions, which are not performed at the Muskegon location.

Others spoke about the ethical responsibility the county has to not spend taxpayer dollars to support a “controversial” and seemingly partisan private organization like Planned Parenthood.

“I don’t see why this meeting is even necessary,” said the Rev. Bill Randall. “You have the responsibility for the use of our buildings and our tax dollars. I’m opposed to Planned Parenthood using county property and confusing people that this agency is somehow connected with our county health department.”

Randall said that Planned Parenthood “had a lovely clinic on Peck Street,” and that “they should come up with their own money (for a new space) if that’s where their hearts are.”

Josie Rose, a former county employee, criticized the county’s leadership for fiscal irresponsibility.

“Maybe if you would have raised the rent on them, I wouldn’t have had to take an early retirement," Rose said.

Those in support of Planned Parenthood said the organization does more than perform abortions and is a vital service to both men and women in the community. They asked the board to either reject or table the measure so they could collect more data and devise a plan to give the health department and Planned Parenthood the space they need.

“There is no other place where you can get contraception and not get preached at about why you are asking for them, and I can confidently say that,” said Joshua Eldenbrady. “It’s not about the intent (of the request) here, it’s about the effect. And I ask you to think about that effect as you make your decision.”

About 1,500 women and men in Muskegon County used Planned Parenthood’s services last year.

"I’ve been to Planned Parenthood (across West Michigan) and the Muskegon office is still my favorite place to receive my care,” Deanna McDonald said during public comment. “They make me feel like I matter. I’ve relied on Planned Parenthood for quality crucial health care; when I found a lump in my breast; when I was sexually assaulted; and when I found the love of my life and wanted to plan my family with these resources.”

Others shared similar stories about the support and care they received at the Muskegon Planned Parenthood.

“They offer health care to males, females, rich and poor," said Kate Lilly. "Since we live in a world without health care for all, we need places like Planned Parenthood in this community.”