The two Planned Parenthood reproductive health clinics in Louisiana will close their doors at the end of next month, its regional leader announced.
Its parent organization has cited a decrease in donor support and Trump administration policy as reasons for its cutbacks across the country.
Anti-abortion activists have had Planned Parenthood in their crosshairs for decades, although neither the Baton Rouge or New Orleans locations have ever been licensed to perform the procedure. Its medical staff provides birth control, tests for sexually transmitted diseases, cancer screenings and other health care services.
“This is not a decision we wanted to make; it is one we were forced into by political warfare,” Melaney Linton, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, said in a statement. “Anti-reproductive health lawmakers obsessed with power and control have spent decades fighting the concept that people deserve to control their own bodies. These extremists have done everything they can to ‘defund’ Planned Parenthood, dismantle public health infrastructure, and block patients from the care they rely on. This cruelty and failed leadership are the reasons we are here today.”
A reduction in staff and services at Planned Parenthood facilities nationwide began even before Congress approved President Donald Trump’s expansive tax and spending measure in early July. Dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill, its provisions include a reduction in Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood clinics, even though federal money already cannot be used to administer abortions. The organization estimates about 200 of its more than 600 facilities are at risk of closing.
Gov. Jeff Landry called Planned Parenthood’s closure announcement “a major win for the pro-life movement here in Louisiana” in a social media post.
“I have fought hard as Attorney General and now as Governor to rid our state of this failed organization,” Landry wrote. “Abortion should NEVER be considered healthcare.”
Attorney General Liz Murrill, who was Landry’s solicitor general when he held the AG’s job, also celebrated the news of the clinic closures.
“This is welcome news,” Murrill said in a statement. “Planned Parenthood built its business around promoting death. Louisiana choose [sic] life. We will always protect women and babies.”
Benjamin Clapper, president of Louisiana Right to Life, said in a statement that Planned Parenthood could have chosen to remain in Louisiana had it stopped performing abortions. He added that the organization has spent $1 million in Louisiana and Texas to help pregnant women travel to other states where the procedure is legal.
“Planned Parenthood is a national abortion business that has long sought to bring its abortion agenda to Louisiana,” Clapper said. “Today’s announcement is further indication that their priority has always been abortion and their profit margins rather than helping women.”
Abortion is allowed in very few instances under Louisiana law, specifically when the life of the mother is at risk, when she faces significant injury from delivery or if the fetus is not expected to survive. Some physicians in the state have been reluctant to perform such emergency abortions, saying state law doesn’t offer enough clarity on when the procedure is permissible.
Health care professionals could face prison time and fines if they perform an illegal abortion in Louisiana.
Murrill is attempting to prosecute a New York doctor for allegedly prescribing and mailing abortion medication to a Louisiana woman who gave the pills to her pregnant minor daughter. The physician, Dr. Margaret Carpenter, is protected by her state’s shield laws, which keep her from being extradited to face charges in Louisiana. Murrill and other Republican attorneys general have called on Congress to strike down those shield laws.