Planned Parenthood on University Boulevard, in east Orlando.
Published on July 11, 2025 at 11:47 am
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Florida’s two Planned Parenthood chapters are merging under one umbrella as clinics across the country face an existential threat as cuts to federal funding for services provided by clinics loom and as the Trump administration targets abortion providers.
On Tuesday, Planned Parenthood of South, East, and North Florida and Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida merged into one statewide organization: Planned Parenthood of Florida.
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“We’re creating a truly resilient organization that’s going to be equipped to expand access and respond to the community’s needs,” said Planned Parenthood CEO Alexandra Mandado. “We’ve been facing a hostile political climate. For several years now, health equity has been an issue in our state. There are health disparities across the state for Floridians, so really this merger is going to improve health outcomes for our patients.”
The move comes days after President Donald Trump signed his tax-spending package into law, which has funding implications for the organization.
The Big Beautiful Bill puts a one-year ban on Medicaid payments to health care nonprofits, according to KFF. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani temporarily halted cuts to Planned Parenthood. Should the cuts go into effect, Planned Parenthood estimated they could impact, or even shut down, 200 clinics across the country.
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Mandado said that while the Florida chapter will be assessing its parts for efficiency, she doesn’t expect to shut down any of its 17 clinics in the immediate future.
Last year, the two affiliates provided care for over 100,000 patients, according to Planned Parenthood of Florida. It also conducted 107,000 STI tests and provided contraceptive access for about 60,000.
“You have medical operations that create certain efficiencies that may be different in two different organizations, and so what we’re working on now is the ability to be able to really provide those efficiencies across the board,” Mandado said.
Previously, certain services could be found only in one Florida chapter or the other, such as offering prenatal care up to 14 weeks of pregnancy, which was at first only offered by Planned Parenthood of South, East, and North Florida.
The Florida chapter offers services such as prenatal care, STI testing, breast screenings, cervical screenings, and abortions, which are capped at six weeks of gestation due to Florida law. The chapter also has a patient navigation system helping patients find abortion access outside of the state if they are over six weeks pregnant, Mandado said.
Besides a united front of services, the merger also expands the chapter’s telehealth availability as well as its hours and days of operations, said Michelle Quesada, vice president of communications at Planned Parenthood of Florida.
“We’ve expanded days of service to include Saturdays and many health centers that didn’t have it before, and now that’s going to be more flexibility for our patients,” Quesada said. “We’re trying to remove those barriers so that patients can have access to all these services no matter what ZIP code they are in Florida.”
