The state of Iowa has enacted its heartbeat bill, prohibiting abortion after a detectable heartbeat. Along with temporary federal funding freezes to organizations like Planned Parenthood that rely heavily on such funds for their abortion programs, the state’s Planned Parenthoods have begun to feel the pinch. To date, four of Iowa’s six Planned Parenthoods have shuttered their doors permanently due to a lack of funding. Iowa senator Joni Enst has vowed to vote in favor of the Protect Funding for Women’s Health Care Act, which would permanently block federal funding from Planned Parenthood. “I am committed to defending the most vulnerable among us. That’s why I will always stand up to protect taxpayer dollars from funding any organization that takes the life of an unborn child. I’m glad the Trump administration is working to end the left’s radical abortion-on-demand agenda,” Ernst said in March.

To fill the gap, Christian pregnancy centers such as Obria Medical Clinic have sprung up in Iowa to support pregnant women. Centers like Obria offer free pregnancy tests and counseling, as well as material support for women facing unexpected pregnancies. Such centers have also expanded their medical offerings. To date, about half of the towns where a Planned Parenthood has shut down now have a pregnancy center. The Obria network has 16 locations across five states. Its Ames, Iowa location where a Planned Parenthood once operated, accepts insurance and has a two licensed nurse practitioners. “This is the moment for pregnancy centers to announce themselves to the world. There is an increasing awareness that Planned Parenthood is struggling, and we have an opportunity to be what they always promised to be, but really never were — a true social safety net,” said John Mize, CEO of Americans United for Life, a national anti-abortion group.

Planned Parenthood has pushed back, framing pregnancy centers like Obria as unlicensed facilities that prey on women in need. “Any time you are providing medical care based in a religious ideology, you are engaging in coercion and paternalism,” said Sarah Traxler, an OB-GYN and the chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood North Central States. Obria has seen the amount of patients it takes in nearly double since Planned Parenthoods began closing their doors.

While organizations like Obria hope to encourage women away from abortion, challenges still remain. Pro-life advocacy group American Life League released its 2025 Planned Parenthood Facilities Report, showing that the number of Planned Parenthoods in the US had dropped to 509. For the last two decades, other than in the year 2023, the number of Planned Parenthoods has steadily decreased. However, in 2023-2024, Planned Parenthood reported it conducted a record high of 402,230 abortions. Women in states like Iowa with restrictive abortion laws often turn to the internet and virtual appointments to seek abortion pills from states where abortion is not so restricted. “Planned Parenthood is leveraging the Internet to skirt state abortion laws. Even in states where abortion pills are restricted, women can book virtual appointments and receive abortion drugs in the mail. This is not only unethical, it’s illegal,” said American Life League National Director Katie Brown Xavios. Maggie DeWitte, executive director of Pulse Life Advocates, said she hopes pregnancy care centers will continue to offer women a better way. “We don’t believe abortion is health care,” she said, adding the pregnancy resource centers “are providing all of the same services Planned Parenthood provides without the devastating service of abortion.”