The 21st Show

Planned Parenthood Clinic Quietly Built Near Missouri Border; Dealing With ‘Climate Grief’; Fall Gardening Tips

By Christine Herman, Anna Casey, Libby Foster and Alan Montecillo
 

A new abortion clinic is quietly being built by Planned Parenthood in Fairview Heights, Illinois, just 12 miles across the Mississippi River east of St. Louis, as Missouri women concerned about the uncertain future of a St. Louis clinic flock across the state line. (AP Photo/Jim Salter)

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A new Planned Parenthood clinic in Illinois, near the Missouri border, is opening in order to accommodate more abortion patients from out of state. We’ll talk about why its construction was kept secret. Plus, climate change is affecting Americans right now, it’s also taking a toll on our mental health. Mental health professionals are starting to hear more patients talk about how the changing climate worries them. And, what you do in your garden now can make a big difference come springtime. The experts will join us to give their tips and tricks for the most effective fall gardening.

New IL Abortion Clinic Accommodates MO Residents

Governor J.B. Pritzker and Illinois Democrats passed many progressive proposals last session. Including stronger protections for abortion. 

This past June, Pritzker signed the Reproductive Health Act into law. The measure did away with bans on some late-term abortions and provides legal protections for doctors who perform abortions. 

Meanwhile in Missouri, the state legislature has been limiting abortion access. And that’s led more women to go out of state for abortion procedures into less restrictive states like Illinois even though there are fewer abortions overall in the U.S.

That’s one reason that Planned Parenthood in Missouri has been working in secret over the past year on a new clinic just across the border in Fairview Heights, Illinois. 

Kavahn Mansouri is a reporter with the Belleville News Democrat, a short drive from Fairview Heights. He’s been reporting on the new facility since the news broke. Sarah Fentem is a health reporter with St. Louis Public Radio, and she’s been reporting on abortion laws in Missouri. 

Coping with Climate Grief

Recent surveys show that a majority of Americans are worried about climate change- and with good reason. Scientists agree that we need to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to prevent some of the worst effects of a warming planet.

But it’s one thing to be worried and another thing to feel overwhelmed or even depressed. Mental health professionals are starting to see this firsthand describing it as “climate grief’ or “eco-anxiety.”

Victoria Knight is a reporter with Kaiser Health News. She wrote about this issue of climate grief and eco-anxiety.

Shanandora Billiot is an assistant professor of social work at the University of Illinois. She’s also a member of the United Houma Nation in what is now southern Louisiana. She studies the mental health effects of environmental damage on communities there.

Fall Gardening Tips

It is finally feeling like fall as our temperatures have dropped and the leaves are starting to change colors. So now’s a great time to get outdoors and enjoy the autumn weather. 

One great way to do that is by working in the garden! You might not think it, but the attention you give your plants and shrubs now can have a big impact come springtime. 

From The Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Todd Jacobson is the head of landscape horticulture. And from Milan, Martha Smith is a horticulture educator at the University of Illinois Extension. Martha serves counties including Henry and Rock Island in the northwest part of the state. 

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