Energized by the announcement that Planned Parenthood of Greater New York plans to close its clinic at 26 Bleecker Street, a group of nearly 100 pro-life supporters gathered across the street from the facility for a prayer vigil on April 4.

Bernadette Patel, who often stood outside the clinic trying to counsel women against abortion, organized the vigil and said the purpose was twofold — to mark the closure of the facility and to remember the unborn babies who were aborted there.

“This is a wonderful victory for life,” Patel said. “To see the only Planned Parenthood clinic in Manhattan closing its doors is the answer to a prayer.” 

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Patel placed candles on the sidewalk and handed out red and white roses to participants to symbolize the babies who were aborted there over the years. During the course of the evening, many vigil participants walked across the street to lay their roses at the doorstep of Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood of Greater New York, which owns the seven-story Bleecker Street building and has operated a clinic at the location for 36 years, announced on March 19 that it was closing the facility and selling the building.  

The date of the closure has not been announced. According to the real estate website Curbed, the asking price for the building is $39 million.

The closure leaves Manhattan without a single Planned Parenthood facility, although the organization still operates clinics in Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx.

One of the vigil’s speakers was Will Goodman, a pro-life advocate who was arrested in 2020 on federal charges of blocking an abortion clinic in Washington, D.C. Goodman was pardoned by President Donald Trump in January.

“This is great! To be honest, I never thought I’d see the day when an abortion mill like this one in the middle of New York City, the epicenter of abortion, would be closing,” Goodman said.

In a press release, Planned Parenthood officials cited “social and political obstacles and structural challenges within the country’s health system” as reasons for the closure.

Specifically, Planned Parenthood claimed that Medicaid and private insurers do not adequately cover the costs of abortions for patients and that the gap between the funds Planned Parenthood spends to treat clients and what the organization receives in reimbursements is widening, and therefore, tough economic decisions had to be made.

“This is an emotional decision for us,” Planned Parenthood President and CEO Wendy Stark said in a statement. 

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The location has been the scene of clashes between pro-life and pro-abortion advocates, including a Feb. 4, 2023, confrontation in which the NYPD was called to restore order.

Supporters marched from Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral, located a few blocks from Planned Parenthood, to the clinic to protest a state bill allowing abortion-inducing medication to be sold in pharmacies. The advocates were met by counter-protesters who attempted to block them, according to media reports.

The pro-life community has held many vigils outside the clinic in the past. On the first Saturday of each month, advocates attend a “First Saturday Mass” at Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral and then walk to Planned Parenthood to pray for the unborn.

Many of the vigil’s participants talked about the power of prayer.

“Prayer is everything,” said Hermione Susana. “It’s taken many years to get to this point, but we prayed, and it happened.”

Kristen Turner also talked about prayer. A former atheist, Turner, who was arrested at an anti-abortion demonstration in 2021, shared a jail cell with Catholic women. Their faith moved her so much that she decided to join the Catholic Church and was baptized last year. 

“Prayer has changed my life,” she said.

While the Planned Parenthood closure is cause for celebration, Patel said, the fight for life is far from over.

“I hope the pro-life community doesn’t become complacent,” she added. “We do have a pro-life president, President Trump. But there are still too many abortions and too many women who need help.”