In the largest anti-abortion protest held in Houston in years, several thousand people on Monday marched, prayed and kept silent.

The protesters scrawled the word “life” on red tape across their mouths to convey their opposition to what they called an “abortion super center” that Planned Parenthood will open in a six-story building on the Gulf Freeway in March.

After the protesters had walked silently through the Third Ward and encircled the sidewalks of the new six-acre facility, organizer Lou Engle used the Martin Luther King holiday to accuse Planned Parenthood of locating the new facility in a predominantly Hispanic and black area to target minorities for abortion services.

“Planned Parenthood is devaluing minorities. The organization sees them as more economically vulnerable to their community of death,” said Engle, adding that a disportionate number of minorities have abortions compared to whites.

Planned Parenthood, however, said the former Sterling Bank building was chosen as its new flagship and administrative headquarters because it is easily accessible and will double its space.

“There is an increasing need for affordable health care in Houston and Harris County because we have more uninsured residents than any other area in the nation,” said Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Rochelle Tafolla.

But anti-abortion speakers told a parking-lot full of protesters waving flags and signs before the march that the new clinic was the next civil rights battleground.

Rates among minorities

According to Planned Parenthood, last year slightly more than 8,000 abortions were performed in its Houston region, which includes two clinics in Louisiana. The agency reported 34 percent of the abortion clients were Anglo; 25 percent were black; and 34 percent Hispanic. The black and Hispanic abortion rates were slightly higher than their overall population percentages in Harris County.

“This is because minorities often have more unintended pregnancies. Perhaps because they do not have the same access to birth control,” Tafolla said.

She pointed to a 2008 nationwide report that showed a 29 percent increase in women below the poverty level having unintended pregnancies compared to a 20 percent decrease in women 200 percent above the poverty level .

Nonetheless, many participants in the march believe their minority neighborhoods are being targeted.

Vickie Soliz of Houston said: “You don't see a clinic being built in The Woodlands or Kingwood but they are putting one in my old neighborhood.”

Houston currently has Planned Parenthood clinics in Midtown (which will be replaced by the new one), Greenspoint and Bellaire, and there are also some in far outlying areas such as Lufkin, Huntsville and Bryan.

Protesters on Monday also questioned why Houston was selected for the Gulf Freeway clinic that they believe will be the largest abortion facility in the Western Hemisphere.

However, Tafolla disputes that point. While the new facility will be Planned Parenthood's largest health care center in the U.S., only two floors will be dedicated for clinical space. The facility also will be the organization's administrative headquarters for 35 counties in Southeast Texas and Louisiana and provide other services from birth control to screening for cancer and sexually transmitted diseases.

Surgery center

In addition, the remodeled building will include an ambulatory surgery center.

The Midtown facility on Fannin did not meet state requirements to be licensed as such a surgery center so it was not allowed to perform abortions after the 15th week.

The new facility can perform abortions up to the 24th week — which upsets opponents — but Tafolla said the new center won't do any past the 19th week.

Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood director in Bryan who quit after she said she observed an abortion procedure, asked for protesters to have compassion for abortion industry workers.

“They are misguided,” she said during the rally organized by leaders of TheCall to Conscience and the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference. “We need to keep coming out here every day and praying for them.”

cindy.horswell@chron.com