In a fundraising email blast with a subject line reading “BREAKING: Abortion Clinics Shutting Their Doors in Nevada,” the state’s largest anti-abortion organization celebrated that two “Planned Parenthood abortion centers” had been shut down in Nevada.

But Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, the entity that now oversees all Planned Parenthood clinics in Nevada, says that email from Nevada Right to Life is an oversimplification.

Earlier this year, the Planned Parenthood affiliate previously serving Las Vegas agreed to transfer the Southern Nevada service area to Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, which covers parts of California and Nevada. Planned Parenthood affiliates operate independently, meaning that the two clinics previously operated in Las Vegas were shut down as part of the organizational change.

Andrew Adams, the chief of staff for Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, said another Las Vegas Planned Parenthood clinic was ready to open as soon as the others closed.

“[They] closed on a Friday, and we opened on a Monday. They stayed open until we opened.” he said. 

The shift was heralded by Planned Parenthood as a cost-saving measure, given financial strain and greater demand for abortion services felt by the previous affiliate, and as a way to provide “clarity” given that most abortion policy now happens on a state-by-state basis after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

Though Planned Parenthood Mar Monte has plans to open another facility in Las Vegas soon, reducing its number of centers in Las Vegas from two to one is likely to further reduce access to abortion in Nevada, which already had one of the lowest number of clinics per capita in the U.S.

In Northern Nevada, Adams said that Planned Parenthood Mar Monte has operated a health center for the last 50 years off of North Fifth Street in Reno, but it recently moved so it could expand to a larger space. 

“It was a really small health center with only a couple exam rooms, and two years ago, we were able to open up a brand-new health center,” Adams said. “We now have eight exam rooms in Reno, versus only two before, and the number of patients we've seen has increased significantly.”

Adams said 7,000 patients a year were seen at the old location and now more than 12,000 patients are seen yearly at the new site. Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, more than 20 states have banned abortion with a few or no exceptions. Adams said that clinics in Reno and Las Vegas saw patients from eight states between April and June.

Although Nevada codified abortion rights up to 24 weeks at the ballot box decades ago and voters will be asked to add similar language to the state Constitution in 2026 via Question 6. If passed, Adams said it would allow nurse practitioners and physician assistants to administer medication abortions, which currently under Nevada law can only be administered by doctors. The Planned Parenthood clinic in Reno is currently the only clinic in the state that does procedural abortion.

The anti-abortion movement has seen recent momentum, including a provision in President Donald Trump’s budget bill that slashed Medicaid payments to health care clinics that provide abortions, such as Planned Parenthood.

Nevada Right to Life communications director Krystal Minera-Alvis says the organization aims to approach its work from an education angle.

“What we have been doing is educating our community on the resources available for women to be able to receive the support and help that they need in order for them to be able to choose life,” Minera-Alvis said.

While Planned Parenthood offers various services, such as testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, HIV services, emergency contraceptives and what Adams refers to as "full, comprehensive sexual reproductive care,” prenatal care isn't among them. The closest thing to it is pregnancy testing and planning.

In 2023, Nevada lawmakers passed a bill to protect health care providers from losing their licenses for “providing or assisting in the provision of certain reproductive health care services,” which includes abortion. It codified a 2022 executive order from then-Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) following the overturning of Roe v. Wade that “protects abortion providers and out-of-state patients from prosecution by anti-abortion state governments for care received in Nevada.”