Planned Parenthood to shutter massive Houston abortion clinic after Congress slashes funding

Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast will shutter two Houston-area abortion centers, including its massive 78,000-square-foot Prevention Park facility, once the largest abortion center in the Western Hemisphere, in a move hailed by pro-life advocates as a “tremendous victory.”

The closures, scheduled for September 30, follow the passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” that will, among other things, cuts funding from going to from Planned Parenthood through Medicaid.

Shawn Carney, CEO of the pro-life organization 40 Days for Life, told Fox News, “This is massive news for the pro-life movement and shows the direction that Planned Parenthood is going, which is down.” Carney added, “Countless people have gone out, offered alternatives. We’ve had pro-life buses outside to do free ultrasounds.” He noted that the facility used to perform late-term abortions before state laws restricted the practice.

Melaney Linton, president of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast (PPGC), said, “Having to reduce PPGC’s future footprint in Houston is heartbreaking. This is the result of decades of orchestrated efforts—abortion bans, Medicaid exclusions, and funding cuts—by lawmakers determined to restrict reproductive health care.”

According to Life News, PPGC cited rising costs, staffing shortages, and low reimbursement rates as contributing factors in its decision to consolidate operations.

The Prevention Park facility, which opened in 2010 at a cost of $26 million, became a lightning rod for controversy due to its location in a predominantly Hispanic and African American neighborhood. Critics accused Planned Parenthood of targeting minority communities and protested the center for providing late-term abortions before Texas’ 2003 restrictions.

Carney argued that the closure illustrates Planned Parenthood’s vulnerability in a post-Roe v. Wade America, where abortion restrictions often lead to clinic shutdowns despite the organization’s claims of prioritizing non-abortion care for low-income women. “When abortions are restricted or alternatives are offered, Planned Parenthood closes, even at its most prosperous locations,” Carney said, pointing to recent closures in New York as further evidence.

Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast currently operates six Houston-area clinics and two in Louisiana. After September 30, its Spring, Stafford, Northwest, and Northville locations will transition to Planned Parenthood Greater Texas.

The closures follow a recent court ruling that blocked a provision of the Trump administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which sought to bar Medicaid funds from going to abortion providers. While Judge Indira Talwani temporarily blocked the measure, the Supreme Court later allowed DHS to proceed with terminating certain benefits unrelated to Medicaid funding.