"Now there are 11 cities and one Planned Parenthood"
When members of the group San Mateo Pro Life arrived at a Planned Parenthood abortion center in Redwood City to pray the rosary on Saturday, July 3, they encountered a pleasant surprise: the clinic had closed.
With little fanfare, Planned Parenthood has shuttered the doors of the Roberts Women's Health Center, 1230 Hopkins Avenue in Redwood City. The facility was one of two operated by Planned Parenthood-Golden Gate in San Mateo County.
"To better serve our clients, we have decided to consolidate the Redwood City and San Mateo health centers," a sign posted in the window at the Robert's Women's Health Center read.
A search of Planned Parenthood-Golden Gate's website turned up no information on the closing of the Redwood City facility. There was also no mention of the closing on Planned Parenthood-Golden Gate's page on Facebook. A search for the facility on Planned Parenthood's nationwide clinic locater resulted in the following message: "Health center information is unavailable at this time," with a toll free number to call for more information.
"In San Mateo County there were 11 cities and 2 Planned Parenthoods," said an email message sent out by San Mateo Pro Life. "Now there are 11 cities and ONE Planned Parenthood… All of us in San Mateo County are now concentrating on closing this last PP. God willing, it will be soon."
Before its closing, the Redwood City facility offered abortions, various forms of contraception, STD counseling and other typical Planned Parenthood "services."
In the meantime, Planned Parenthood-Golden Gate continues to operate facilities in San Francisco, Oakland, Hayward, Rohnert Park, San Mateo, San Rafael, and a special 'satellite clinic' in San Francisco named the "Good Samaritan Family Resource Center" whose mission, says Planned Parenthood's website, "is to help immigrant families access social services."
In an effort to attract new clients, Planned Parenthood-Golden Gate has launched an "iPad Scavenger Hunt" for new patients and current patients who "refer a friend" who has not been seen at a Planned Parenthood facility for four years or more. Participants are asked to answer eight multiple-choice questions based on information published on its website or Facebook page, and submit the entry during a visit to one of Planned Parenthood-Golden Gate's clinics by Oct. 1. A drawing to determine who wins the iPad will be held on Oct. 8, according to the website.
Planned Parenthood-Golden Gate is not the only Planned Parenthood affiliate in California that has consolidated its operations in recent months over "budget constraints." On June 21,California Catholic Daily reported that Planned Parenthood Mar Monte based in San Jose was discontinuing programs at Sierra High School in Truckee and at the California Conservation Corps in Meyers. Truckee is in Nevada County; Meyers in El Dorado County.
