Pro-life activist Abby Johnson said Planned Parenthood closing two of its facilities in Houston represents a "symbolic victory" for the pro-life movement. (REUTERS/Luis Cortes)
Facilities in GOP-led states with abortion restrictions, including Texas, have been forced to cease procedures following the 2022 Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe V. Wade and returned power to make laws regarding abortion back to the states.
Johnson, who worked for eight years at a clinic in Bryan, Texas, that was run by Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, recalled the celebration among her former colleagues when plans for the Houston mega-facility were unveiled, although she resigned from the organization before it was opened in 2010.
"I was in the room on the day that they unveiled the plans. I was in the room on the day that they unveiled the model of that building. Everyone was so excited that we were going to have this 78,000-square-foot abortion facility," Johnson said. "I remember the capacity that they were going to be able to see, the capacity of patients, the excitement of being able to perform 75 abortions every day, six days a week."
"So the fact that this facility is no longer even going to be an option, even if surgical abortion was reinstated here in the state of Texas, that facility is no longer going to be operational," she continued. "It's no longer going to be able to be used as an abortion facility. That in itself is a victory."
The company cited rising costs, staffing shortages and low reimbursement rates as the reasons for closing the two Houston facilities. State GOP officials in recent years have made repeated attempts to shut down Planned Parenthood even after nearly all abortions were banned under Texas law.
The closings in Houston come amid several closures of Planned Parenthood facilities in various states, including New York, where the organization is selling its only Manhattan health center building for $39 million.
Johnson, who now runs a pro-life ministry, said mergers were already happening when she worked for Planned Parenthood, including with the facility she worked for, and she expects mergers to continue as more facilities close across the country.
"When I first began working for Planned Parenthood, there were almost 100 affiliates. That number has more than halved since I left Planned Parenthood. Affiliates are merging, clinics are closing and they are losing staff. They're having to lay off staff because of clinic closures and mergers," she said, adding that "morale is low" and the work environment is not happy.
The company cited rising costs, staffing shortages and low reimbursement rates as the basis for the closing of the two facilities. (Getty Images)
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"I think Texas, Louisiana, the southern states, we could have a unique opportunity here because we don't have abortion," she said. "We don't have legal abortion here in the state and we don't have state and federal money pouring into these facilities."
She also noted that places, like California, allowing access to surgical abortion are completely overrun with patients who travel for the procedure since it is banned in GOP-led states.
Johnson emphasized that despite the victory in Houston, the pro-life movement still has a lot of work to do, pointing to data showing that abortion numbers in Texas have remained about the same since the state banned surgical abortions.
"Even though abortion is technically illegal in the state of Texas, women are having abortions at the same exact rate as it was when it was legal," she said. "These women are going online, they're getting abortions from online abortion providers."
Abortion pills are "very easy to obtain," she highlighted.
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