Planned Parenthood again licensed to perform abortions in Waco

Planned Parenthood is again licensed to perform abortions in Waco, but calls to the organization about whether abortions will resume have not been returned.

The organization applied for and received a license in November, according to Texas Department of Health and Human Services records.

Pro-Life Waco says it thinks Planned Parenthood may be moving from Ross Avenue in South Waco to a medical building now under construction at 700 West Highway 6, but calls to the organization for confirmation this week weren’t returned.

"I have heard, and I have some indications of people that are private and don't want their names to be public, that that building is being built for use by Planned Parenthood,” said John Pisciotta, the director of Pro-Life Waco.

Pisciotta said his group has already been protesting at the site.

“It weighs heavy on my heart now, that it appears that Waco will again be one of those cities,” Pisciotta said.

Planned Parenthood began offering abortions in Waco in 1994 at a secure facility at 1917 Columbus Ave.

That clinic was closed in December 2011 and procedures were shifted to the Planned Parenthood clinic at 1121 Ross Avenue, but the organization relinquished its Waco license after Texas lawmakers approved the new restrictions on abortions in 2013.

In June 2016, however, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down parts of the law, saying that requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals and forcing clinics to meet ambulatory surgery center standards for outpatient services posed “a substantial obstacle to women seeking abortions, and constitutes an "undue burden" on their constitutional right to do so."