WHPP Closure Notice
By Cheryl Sullenger
Winter Haven, FL – A sign posted on the front door was the first indication that the Planned Parenthood office in Winter Haven, Florida, had closed. It announced that as of February 1, 2016, the abortion facility which offered the abortion pill and surgical abortions through 16 weeks of pregnancy, would shut down for good.
According to the ABC News affiliate WFTS in Tampa Bay, the clinic’s staff merged with the Planned Parenthood facility in Lakeland, which does not abortions.
“Planned Parenthood isn’t one to leave money on the table, and if their Winter Haven abortion facility had shown a profit, it would still be open,” said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue. “This shows that the demand for abortions had fallen so low in that area that an abortion facility was financially unsustainable.”
The fact that Winter Haven referrals are now going to an office that does not supply abortions supports Newman’s conclusions.
This sudden closure follows the shutdown of another Florida abortion facility, Woman Care in Orlando, that merged with another abortion business, All Women’s Health Center in Almonte Springs.
Sixty-two surgical abortion facilities continue to operate in Florida, down from 71 in 2010. Florida is second only to California for having the largest number of abortion facilities per state.
“Florida is over-saturated with abortion clinics and as the demand continues to fall, we expect to see more closures,” said Newman. “This is great news for pregnant women and their babies who will no longer have an abortion business actively marketing abortions to them that they would not otherwise want.”
Planned Parenthood organizations in Florida have had regulatory issues since the state launched an investigation last year after the Center for Medical Progress released a series of undercover videos that showed Planned Parenthood negotiating for the illegal sale of aborted baby body parts.
Last September, five Florida abortion businesses were cited and fined by the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) for conducting illegal second trimester abortions as a result of that investigation. Among them were three Planned Parenthood abortion facilities in St. Petersburg, Ft. Myers, and Naples.