New SA Planned Parenthood facility will serve surrounding areas

$5M facility will be fully functioning by September

Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Mara Posada said the heart and soul of their organization is committed to prevention. 

She believes a new $5 million facility coming this September will not only serve people in San Antonio, but in surrounding areas such as the Rio Grande Valley, where unintended pregnancy is a growing concern for women with little to no income.

"The new facility will not only allow us to be able to provide a whole range of services that we already do, which includes abortion care, but also allow us to expand our scope of services," said Posada.

The new facility is a new surgical center that can provide people with procedures such as biopsies, laparoscopic hysterectomies and tubal ligation.

Posada said in 2013, more than 18,000 women and men used their Planned Parenthood facilities. That could have been anything for sexually transmitted disease testing, birth control, to male sexual health exams.

She said fewer than 10 percent had abortions.

She said if a woman comes to their clinic for an abortion, it's a decision that wasn't easily made.

"(She's not making these) decisions herself, (it's) with her family, her faith and with the consult of her physician as well ," said Posada.

A representative from the San Antonio Family Association, who has protested Planned Parenthood in the past, was unavailable for comment on this story.

Planned Parenthood is not disclosing where their new facility will be. Posada would only say that it will be fully functioning by September. 

For a list of recent stories Mariza Mendoza has done, click here.

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