The following comes from a July 31 story in the San Benito County Today.

The San Benito County won’t have a satellite Planned Parenthood office starting Aug. 15, meaning local teens and migrant workers will have to travel to nearby Gilroy, Salinas and Watsonville to get the same services.

“We were never told a reason,” said Monika Hassler, a physician assistant at the Planned Parenthood San Benito Health Center, who has worked at the clinic since the site opened about seven years ago. “We were basically told it was a very hard decision.”

The corporate office did not return calls about the nature of the clinic’s closing by deadline.

“I do believe it was financial but it would have been nice if they gave us a concrete answer,” Hassler said.

The closure of the Planned Parenthood San Benito Health Center follows the shuttering of doors at the Greenfield clinic, a smaller site that served a large population of migrant farm workers in the Salinas Valley….Word that the center is closing is still getting out.

“This is the first that I’ve heard about it,” said Amy Denney Zuniga, the reverend of the neighboring St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. “I’m sorry to hear that they’re closing because that’s a very important service to the community….”

 

The following comes from an Aug. 5 email forwarded to Cal Catholic.

I am one who brought 40 Days to Hollister last year after Shawn Carney spoke at our Hollister Pregnancy Center Fundraiser. It was convicting so I asked God what He wanted me to do. He said do what you can do. So I asked some good friends for the money to register and then I publicized the best I could with churches and people of faith that had a heart for prayer and Life. Well, we had a turnout much smaller than needed for 24/7 prayer for 40 days. God said do what you can. I had been walking to work past the clinic for many weeks and God said pray the rainbow over the workers and the clients as you go by. I told God that was the wrong group – He said do it anyway.

So on the first week of 40 Days, my wife bought a bouquet, I wrote a letter and gave it with Abby Johnson’s book unPlanned to the receptionist and asked her to give it to the person in charge. I also told them we would be across the street in front of the local mortuary praying for the clients and the workers and we loved all who came by. We engaged very few people. Over the 40 days, many days no one was there. But there were the days like when we gave away Cupcakes For Life October 9th to kids walking home from the high school and we had some nice conversations.

At the end of the 40 days, I asked God “Now what?” He said “You did what I asked. It isn’t your battle, it is Mine. I have seen what was done. It is in My hands.” Then about six weeks ago, we heard the PP office was closing….

To read the entire news article, click here.