Napa anti-abortion group follows Planned Parenthood clinic to new location
Ever since the Supreme Court reversed its ruling on Roe v. Wade, the argument over abortion has become an all-out political war. And in the city of Napa, a group of anti-abortion activists seem to be embracing the old advice, "keep your friends close, but your enemies closer."
When they opened the Napa Women's Center in 2020, Board President Gerry Cruz was excited by what it would have to offer.
"...and not just any women's center. One that can be strategically located near Planned Parenthood, where lives and hearts could be changed," he said in a YouTube video announcing the opening. "And as you can see, Planned Parenthood has a brand-new neighbor."
It was right next door. The Napa Women's Center offered free pregnancy tests and pro-life counseling.
But Gilda Gonzales, president of Planned Parenthood of Northern California, said it also attracted frequent protests on the sidewalk outside the clinic. When they got too raucous, in 2021 the Napa City Council passed an ordinance banning amplified sound, shouting and sidewalk obstruction within 30 feet of the clinic.
"They had regular protesting that was very elevated and intimidating to our patients and our staff and it became just untenable to be there," Gonzales told CBS News Bay Area.
In January of 2023, Planned Parenthood moved about a mile and half away to a building in a medical office complex. But Gonzales said that wasn't the last they heard of the Napa Women's Center.
"We were aware that they were requesting if any business in the facility had a closet that they could rent," she said. "So, we did know that they were doing that soon after we arrived there. So, this has been long in coming and...we're here now."
Planned Parenthood has not been able to shake its old neighbor. The anti-abortion activists moved out of the building they had renovated only a few years before and have taken up residence in an office directly below the new Planned Parenthood clinic.
Board president Cruz said they needed to move to a medical facility so they can eventually offer free ultrasounds for women to see their unborn babies.
"Purely coincidental," Cruz told CBS News Bay Area. "The space worked for us. The fact that Planned Parenthood is above us...we have yet to know whether that's going to be a positive or a negative."
Julie Murillo, the Women's Center's Executive Director said she can understand why Planned Parenthood is so upset.
"Of course. Of course, we know why there's controversy," she said. "But we're here to offer a different choice. We're here to offer women actual help for an unplanned pregnancy. So...um...yeah."
Unlike the last site that Cruz called "strategically located," he denies that there is anything strategic about ending up right next to Planned Parenthood again. He insists it was just a funny coincidence that they ended up there.
"All I can say to that is I understand the perception," he said. "I think God does have a sense of humor."
No one at Planned Parenthood is laughing.
"Because we knew that is their intention. To be near us, and to disrupt," said Gonzales.
On Tuesday, there were only a couple of protesters on the sidewalk outside of the new location. But Planned Parenthood fears there may be lot more to come.
