Deliberate Parenthood Abortion Biz Closes First Heart in 2026
The nation’s largest abortion business kicked off the new year by shuttering its Rolla, Missouri center. That marks the first such closure in 2026 after nearly 50 Planned Parenthood facilities were forced to close nationwide last year amid federal funding cuts.
Planned Parenthood Great Rivers announced Tuesday that the Rolla, Missouri, facility would close to in-person appointments starting January 1, transitioning services to telehealth while redirecting abortion customers elsewhere.
The center did not perform abortions but referred women for them and arranged transportation for women to have their babies killed in abortions elsewhere or to purchase the dangerous abortion pill.
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The abortion giant blamed the move on financial strains from Missouri’s pro-life laws and federal defunding under the Trump administration.
“Throughout 2025, Planned Parenthood health centers have had to contend with the deep, negative impacts of attacks on health care access, funding, and legal protections,” the abortion company said in a press release. “Federal ‘defund’ efforts under the Trump administration and its allies in Congress have put more than 200 health centers at risk.”
Margot Riphagen, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Rivers, said the shift would ensure sustainability.
“At Planned Parenthood, our patients are our north star,” Riphagen said. “Shifting Rolla fully to telehealth enables patients to continue receiving the sexual and reproductive health care they trust while ensuring our long-term sustainability amid repeated attacks against sexual and reproductive health care in Missouri and across the country.”
Pro-life advocates hailed the closure as a victory, arguing it saves lives and exposes the abortion business’s priorities.
Joe Dalton, CEO of the Pregnancy Resource Center in Rolla, which offers free services to over 500 women annually, said local care providers like Phelps Health and Mercy clinics can fill any gaps in legitimate health care.
“For decades they have tried to sell the illusion that they were the gold standard for women’s health,” Dalton said. “Planned Parenthood really is the gold standard of abortion. Nothing else, just killing tiny humans. Rolla will be a better place without them here. We are super grateful they are closing.”
Mark Lee Dickson, founder of Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn, who organized prayer gatherings outside the abortion facility last year, celebrated the news. “This is what we prayed for,” Dickson said.
The Rolla shutdown follows a wave of 48 Planned Parenthood closures in 2025, triggered by Congress and President Trump revoking federal taxpayer funding, including Title X and Medicaid reimbursements.
A Planned Parenthood memo from November acknowledged that “nearly 50 Planned Parenthood health centers have been forced to close following the loss of Title X funds and Medicaid reimbursements,” with 20 occurring after July 4.
Planned Parenthood Great Rivers closed three other Missouri facilities in 2024, part of a broader shift toward telehealth amid ongoing defunding battles.
