Wednesday, October 1, was the first day without a Planned Parenthood in Louisiana in 40 years.
The nonprofit health care organization’s two clinics in the state shut down due to what Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast CEO Melaney Linton called “relentless political assaults.”
For decades, Planned Parenthood offered screenings and treatments for sexually transmitted diseases, family planning, cancer screens and ultrasounds to thousands of people in Louisiana each year.
Louisiana Right to Life and Louisiana Black Advocates for Life — two anti-abortion groups — hosted diaper drives on the day Planned Parenthood shut down to collect essentials for new mothers, and raise awareness about other pre- and post-natal health care groups across the state.
Trinity Wicker, youth programs director with Louisiana Black Advocates for Life, said the organization wants pregnant women to know there are options besides abortion.
" We wanna make sure that women don't even see abortion as an option,” she said. “We want them to feel so, so supported that it's not even on their mind.”
Planned Parenthood was never licensed to perform abortions in the state of Louisiana. However, it did help patients access out-of-state abortion care.
Louisianians can still access care and view their chart through Planned Parenthood online.
