BATON ROUGE - Planned Parenthood, a reproductive health clinic that has constantly been at the center of controversy due to listing abortions as one of the services it provides, will cease its operations in Louisiana. 

The nonprofit, which has operated in the state for more than 40 years, sent a letter to its staff Friday saying clinics in Louisiana would close on Sept. 30 due to a lack of access to federal funding. 

Planned Parenthood's Louisiana clinics provide birth control, tests for sexually transmitted diseases, cancer screenings and other health care services. Over the past year, the organization provided care to more than 10,600 patients. They have never been licensed to provide abortions in the state. 

Richard Mahoney, who spent 40 years protesting outside of abortion clinics, says his mission to close Planned Parenthood in Louisiana is now complete.

"Now that Planned Parenthood is out of Louisiana, abstinence and covenant marriage and helping families will be the priority instead of diabolical sexual disorientation," Mahoney said. 

Although the clinic does not perform abortions, those who oppose Planned Parenthood, like Mahoney, say it's a gateway. 

"When the contraceptives fail, abortion is where they go to and these people are the number one referral," he said.

He shares excitement over Planned Parenthood's shuttering with both the governor and attorney general. 

This is a major win for the pro-life movement here in Louisiana.

I have fought hard as Attorney General and now as Governor to rid our state of this failed organization.

Abortion should NEVER be considered healthcare. https://t.co/ImhzNKduln

— Governor Jeff Landry (@LAGovJeffLandry) August 5, 2025

This is welcome news. Planned Parenthood built its business around promoting death. Louisiana chooses life. We will always protect women and babies. https://t.co/hFXGc96Y2u

— Attorney General Liz Murrill (@AGLizMurrill) August 5, 2025

A reproductive rights advocate said, however, that it is disheartening to see the clinics come to a close. 

"So to say that we're stripping them of that right and the inability to be able to get services to get what they need to make sure that they're okay, it scares me of how many lives we'll lose as a result of such a large provider in the state no longer being present here," Kaitlyn Joshua said. "I've had friends who found out they had cancer at a Planned Parenthood."

Joshua said the focus should not be on shutting down clinics like Planned Parenthood.

"When you look at the state of Louisiana, how we rank in education and healthcare and all those different things, maybe we should focus on those services and make sure these people can have full lives and really thrive before we make sure they should be parents," Joshua said.

Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast released the following statement: 

“For 40 years, Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast (PPGC) has delivered trusted, compassionate health care to people of all backgrounds, identities, and income levels across Louisiana. The care we’ve provided through extraordinary obstacles has changed and saved lives, and we are deeply proud of that legacy.

In a challenging landscape for all health care providers, and in spite of deep community support for our mission and services, coordinated and sustained political attacks and an increasingly hostile judiciary have blocked our ability to continue serving Louisianans. As a direct result of relentless political assaults, Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast will close our two Louisiana health centers and wind down operations in the state on September 30, 2025.

This is not a decision we wanted to make; it is one we were forced into by political warfare. 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.

We are not the first Planned Parenthood affiliate to face this reality, and we will not be the last. As many as 200 health centers across the country are at risk of closure if the attempt to ‘defund’ Planned Parenthood by the Trump administration and its backers in Congress is successful. Every health center closure, every patient who goes without care, every undetected cancer and untreated infection is on those lawmakers’ hands.

Our doors remain open until September 30, and patients can continue coming to PPGC for their care as all services, hours, and locations remain unchanged until then. We will do everything in our power to support Louisiana patients through this transition and connect them to care moving forward.”