Planned Parenthood Closing Lufkin Clinic, Two Others

LUFKIN — Planned Parenthood is closing three Texas clinics, including one in East Texas. They are in Bryan, Huntsville, and Lufkin. Rochelle Tafoya is with Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast. She says it’s due to the legislature slashing the budget for women’s health care services by two thirds in 2011. Tafoya says, “We are saddened. We can’t express how deeply distressed we are as an organization that women who live in underserved areas of Texas will be losing a trusted provider.” She says for many of the women her agency serves, this was their only healthcare provider, and she calls being forced to make this decision tragic. Of the clinics, only Bryan offers abortion services.